"Gabriel," Tien sighs and runs a hand through his hair, "your father entrusted me and Sion to look after you and your mother while he stayed behind, which is why he had us sent to the human realm long ago. We got adopted by a nearby family who just happened to include Ayette and eventually our families merged by coincidence. We would go back and forth on missions while also looking out for you and your mother's safety. We've been away for a few months now, which is how the others got to you first."

"Right..." Renee raises a brow and crosses her arms, "that seems a little too coincidental."

"So, we may have pulled some strings," Tien waves a hand, "but it all worked out. And now, you're here and capable of defending yourself."

"Wait," I frown, "so, you're telling me that my father who stayed behind sent you and Sion to look after me and my mother? Why didn't he do it himself?"

"He didn't want to stay behind," Tien says, his eyes sad, "Alex didn't have a choice...so, he spent the rest of his days trying to take down Coralyinn and her forces, becoming a high ranking military general."

"What do you mean he didn't have a choice?" Reine frowns, "there is always a choice."

"Alex isn't allowed to leave this realm," Tien explains, "whenever Gabriel and his mother were sent away, Alex was tethered to this realm to ensure that he wouldn't go after them. It would be like fighting against a magnet."

"And...you're telling me that he's close by?" I raise my eyebrows, "you're telling me that I could potentially meet him again?"

"Well...yes, but he's out on a mission right now," Tien says, "he won't be back for a few hours."

"Okay," I shake my head and sigh, "but there's something else that doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't you look after Vivian? And why do I have no childhood memories of her even though she's my sister?"

"Wait, you mean you don't know?" Tien frowns, his expression conflicted.

"Don't know what?" I furrow my eyebrows wearily.

"Gabriel, I don't know how to tell you this, but--" Tien starts.

"Tien!" Sion shouts and reenters the tent, pushing aside the entrance roughly as she meets her brother's eyes, "a messenger from D's mission squad returned. He said Coralyinn captured the Primordial Relic."

"What?" Tien's eyes widen as commotion stirs outside, "that's impossible."

"D is on his way," Sion says, "he's coming back early to explain what happened. I'm sure he'll know."

"This is...most troubling," Tien frowns and his gaze hardens as Sion leaves the tent swiftly.

"What does the Primordial Relic do?" Ayette asks.

"The Primordial Relic isn't a exactly thing," Tien sighs and meets Ayette's gaze, "the Primordial Relic is more of a she."

"Excuse me, come again?" Kaltrina raises her eyebrows, "I thought Ayette was the only one to ever merge with a relic."

"She is," Mikasa breathes out, "the Primordial Relic projects an illusion to keep itself hidden. Most who see the illusion believe she's a regular being, but she's just a projection made by magic. We used to think she was an entity who lived inside of the relic, but we later learned that wasn't the case. The relic is capable of anything in creation, whether that be changing time, destroying entire worlds, or creating a new realm."

"If Coralyinn has that, then we're surely all doomed," Shitau says quietly.

"Oi, watch where you're going, Rainbow," Sion snaps from outside the tent and Tien's gaze flickers over to the opening of the tent as a smile ghosts across his lips.

"No need to be so rude," sighs another female with a click of her tongue.

The tent opens once more to reveal a woman with pink, blue, and blonde hair with sideswept bangs, the hair on the left side of her head reaching her shoulder and the hair on the right side of her head cut jagged and slightly above her shoulder. Her outfit consists of a pair of black thigh-high boots with white trim at the top and a golden ankh icon on the right of each boot by the top and two white straps that wrap around the each boot above the knee and connect to the trim at the top, a white ruffled skirt, a golden chain belt that hangs around her waist, and a black bell-sleeve top that splits at her stomach.

"You really need to tell your sister to calm down," the strangely dressed woman rolls her cerulean blue eyes and places a hand on her hip.

"You know how Sion is." Tien smiles sadly, "Mirana, I'd like you to meet our visitors."

"How lovely!" she beams and claps her hands together as she kicks her right leg behind her in the air, "I'm Mirana Ranclout, also known as the Vertigo Sorceress and the Guardian of Springs. It's nice to meet all of you."

"Nice to meet you," Reine smiles politely.

"I take it from your return that Alex is back?" Tien asks.

"Yeah," Mirana waves a hand, her blue eyes seemingly shifting to violet, "the squad should be here in a few minutes. I went ahead of the others. Those yeti monsters just weren't letting up."

"Y--Yeti monsters?" Shitau's eyes widen, "what yeti monsters?"

"Just some of the monsters Coralyinn created to cause havoc," Mirana sighs, "they've been terrorizing the locals for weeks now."

"Lovely," Ayette mutters and Dimitri squeezes her shoulder reassuringly.

"We were spying on Coralyinn's movements and whenever we uncovered that she has the Primordial Relic, the yetis came after us," Mirana explains, "she's shaken the frost spirits so much. That woman may be able to control winter itself, but she needs to learn not to misuse it and not to harm the spirits."

"We need to recover that relic," Dimitri scowls.

"Agreed," Reine nods.

"We would send some of our soldiers to help, given that it's one of our main priorities as well now, but I'm afraid we can't spare many," Tien frowns, "the war is keeping most of our soldiers busy, and the rest are either out on other important missions or are here at the camp healing or passing through."

"If you could tell us where Coralyinn is, that would be enough for us," Reine says.

"I don't know if I'm--" Mirana starts.

Suddenly, the tent opening gets pushed aside once more and my breath hitches as my eyes land on a very familiar, sandy haired, hazel eyed figure wearing a black fur jacket with dark blue trim, black pants, a black v-neck, and black combat boots, a silver greatsword strapped across his back by a thick dark brown strap and sheath. His eyes scan across the room, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion before his eyes land on Reine, Dimitri, and me.

"Gabriel?" he breathes out and I nod slowly, unsure of what to do.

The room stays silent for a few moments as my father meet's Tien's gaze, silently asking him what he should do, to which Tien simply smiles.

"Your son and his friends came here seeking you," Tien explains, "they weren't originally aware of just exactly who you are, but I told them eventually. I figured they had the right to know. They plan on taking down Coralyinn. And, I know you probably think that's a terrible idea and that you don't want to lose your son now that you've just got him back, but I think that maybe you need to hear them out."

"There is...much to talk about," Alex clears his throat as his gaze flickers between Tien and me, "but as for Coralyinn, defeating her will be even more difficult than it once would have been. Now that she has a relic, especially the Primordial Relic, it'll be near to impossible. But, that's what we're here to do, isn't it? We're here to do the impossible. Coralyinn was last seen about fifty miles from here. If we want to have a chance at beating her, we'll need to purify the frost spirits and catch her off guard."

"If only we could reach the frost spirits," Mirana sighs and crosses her arms, "the pathways are completely blocked by remnants from avalanches. Not to mention they're filled with monsters. It's my living duty to keep the area between summer and spring purified, so if I could reach the frost spirits here in winter, I'm sure I could manage to purify them somehow. It's just a matter of reaching them."

"We could help," Renee offers.

"Indeed," Aislinn nods, "a few of us could head with you to purify the spirits."

"Excellent!" Mirana beams and whirls through the air, pink and green energy swirling around her as she holds a smooth blue crystal wand in her right hand, "who shall go, then?"

Renee, Renji, Ciana, Dimitri, Aislinn, Kaltrina, Shitau, and Tsukumi offer to help Mirana, who gleefully accepts their help. Dimitri and Ayette glance wearily at each other and Ayette smiles to try and comfort him, knowing he's uneasy about leaving her side.

"We'll definitely purify those spirits," Ciana grins and knocks her fists together, embers of fire sparking briefly before going out, "and with Aislinn with us, we'll all be able to easily get back here."

"I believe the rest of you should attempt to make a deal with Medea while the others purify the spirits," Alex advises, "if you succeed, it would be greatly beneficial. I will head with Sion to keep watching over Coralyinn's movements and the Primordial Relic in the meantime."

"That's wise," Reine nods and pauses to think about it for a few moments, "we won't be able to take on Coralyinn without all of us together, so it would be best to be productive, and having less people for Medea's garden is advisable due to the risks it holds. Additionally, she is part of my chain and could greatly help us. The garden will be extremely difficult to summon though."

"Not if I'm with you," Tien says and our gazes turn to him quizzically.

"So," Mikasa starts, "it'll be Gabriel, Reine, Ayette, Nathan, Tien, and me heading to Medea's garden?"

"Correct," Reine adds, her gaze still curiously on Tien, "we will all meet back here as soon as we're finished and discuss from there."

"Still as much of a leader as ever, I see," Alex smiles sadly at Reine, whose eyes flicker over to him and she nods faintly.

"If my group is all ready, we could head out now," Mirana smiles and the others exchange glances before nodding.

"Hey," Dimitri says fondly as he looks at Ayette while the others begin to shuffle out of the tent, chatting excitedly, "be careful, okay?"

"You be careful too, Yvatlovich," Ayette smiles and leans up, kissing him on the cheek as she raises her foot in the air, "I need you just as much as you need me."

Dimitri smiles and nods before he pulls her into a tight hug. They share a small smile before he turns on his heel and runs outside after the others, unsheathing his weapon in the process.

"Hey, guys," I clean my throat and everyone that's left looks at me knowingly, "before we go, could I talk to my father, alone?"

"Sure thing," Reine smiles and places a hand on my shoulder reassuringly, "let us know when you're done, okay?"

"Alright," I swallow thickly and nod before Reine makes her way outside, followed by Mikasa, who smiles comfortingly at me, and the others exit behind her, leaving just me and my father.

I haven't forgotten what Tien was about to say about my sister, but I figure I can ask him about it later. I haven't seen my father in years and I'm about to be leaving again for who knows how long, and I might not even make it back alive. I'd rather talk to him now than never.

"So, where do we begin?" my father chuckles nervously and runs a hand through his hair.

"Tell me about everything," I breathe out.