AKARI

Once nightfall comes, I decide to wander around Nikita's castle because I enjoy the night hours. They're the only hours when I can really think.

I wander down one of the upper hallways, which is open on the left side with white columns and railing so that the fresh air can come in and you can see the night sky and the shining crescent moon from outside.

I sigh as I wander over to the railing and I rest my arms against it, staring up at the sky as I tilt my head back, letting the light illuminate my white and light blue dress with black lace sleeves and lace over the top, my pair of light blue slippers matching the dress.

"Hey," I hear a voice call out from behind me and I smile, knowing it's Sander.

"Hey," I reply, listening as his footsteps come up next to me and watching with a glance over in his direction as he leans on the railing with me. "Can't sleep either?"

"Something like that," Sander nods.

"Do you think Isabella is okay to participate in the trial?" I ask after a few moments of comfortable silence pass.

"I don't know," Sander sighs. "But I know she'll make it through it anyway. Don't you find it odd how Evory was also chosen shortly after her accident?"

"Yeah," I hum. "It's like it chose the most vulnerable of us."

"How is Miroslava vulnerable?" Sander raises a brow.

"She's more vulnerable than I think anyone knows," I say sadly, forcing a tired smile as I meet Sander's gaze. "You know...I was there."

"Hmm?" Sander hums thoughtfully.

"I was there, with Isabella's mom," I say, making Sander's breath hitch as I continue. "Clea and I went on a mission to check on Isabella's village as our cover mission to flee Aria. We checked in with her mom before we left, just to make sure everything was okay."

"What happened?" Sander asks quietly.

"Carmin," I say, which is seemingly all that needs to be said, Sander's lips pursing in a line as his jaw clenches and his knuckles turn white.

"He acts like he's the victim and because he's the victim he can do no wrong," Sander shakes his head. "Reverence was always like an older brother to Shae and I, despite us being cousins. We never really knew what to think of Carmin, and now it seems we know why."

"I'm sorry," I frown, knowing how hard it was for them to go through losing their parents, their aunt and uncle, and Reverence.

"I'm not going to say that it's fine because it's not fine and I don't think it ever will be, but I've made my peace with it I guess," Sander sighs. "After all, your family isn't something you're born into— it's something you find."

"Yeah," I smile, meeting his gaze to see that he's smiling as well. "And this is our family."

"And it always will be," Sander grins before he ruffles my hair. "I'm gonna go try and get some rest or Kit will kill me. You should, too."

"I should try to kill you?" I muse as Sander starts to walk off.

"You know what I meant!" Sander shouts and waves a hand as he walks away towards his guest room.

I sigh as I take one last look up at the sky before I decide to head towards my room, passing by Clea in the process as she comes up the stairway to the upper hallway. Clea and I exchange a glance, both of us smiling sadly, before I decide to ask Clea what happened with Rae.

"Hey, Clea," I stop her for a moment, watching as she turns back to look at me, a brow raised. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, but would you like some tea?" Clea asks. "I have some in my room and I get the feeling this will take a while."

"Sure," I nod, taking her up on her offer and following after her.

Clea's guest room consists of a white bed with light blue see-through curtains that drape over the bed, a window with the panes open, a desk, a wardrobe, a dresser, a nightstand, and a dresser with wooden floors and light blue walls, fairly simple yet fairly pretty.

Clea walks over to the dresser where a small keurig is plugged in to an outlet, water already boiling inside. She then picks up one of the two glasses that are sitting on the dresser beside the keurig before she pours the water into it, repeating the process with the other one.

"I have a few different types of tea laying out, so take your pick," Clea says as she grabs a bag of chamomile tea for herself.

I decide to choose green tea and the two of us walk over to sit on the bed while we drink our tea and talk.

"So, I'm guessing this is about Rae?" Clea asks and I nod, which makes her sigh.

"What happened in there?" I ask quietly.

"She just told me something I already knew," Clea sighs. "Oracle stuff, you know?"

"Right..." I trail off, feeling like she doesn't want to talk about it. "Say, do you happen to know anything about the trials?"

"Kind of," Clea nods. "The runestone of Pride and Humility will use your vulnerabilities against you. It will require you to come to terms with who you are. It emulates situations that try to break you, illusions, but...deadly illusions nonetheless. They can still hurt you in every way possible."

"And you think it chose them because they're the most apt to vulnerability or?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"I think it chose them because they're the ones who need to come to terms with themselves, or at the very least, come to terms with something or someone else," Clea says. "Maybe it's not their demons they have to fix, but someone else's."

"We all have a lot of those, it seems," I say softly.

"Yeah," Clea nods, her voice laced with emotion. "Yeah, we do."