Attending a funeral wasn't Ixis' initial intention for returning home.

But at least it had three good points. First off, her parents were kept too busy to ask questions about why she was home injured. Secondly, she was only a twenty minute walk from Axis. The perfect place to scout out her target and keep an eye on a certain, pesky Shadow Traited. Lastly, was a new member of her family.

Ixis smiled at the cooing toddler, already growing attached to him after only a few days of finding out he existed. The guilt in her chest lessened a little as the one year old clutched onto her finger with everything she had despite only her one usable hand. Her apprenticeship and Regency had taken up so much of her time that she had even missed the birth of her own little brother. Jerimiah Hawkinson.

Ixis had no idea where her mother had plucked that overly extravagant name from but despite all the rumours and talks of a bad omen they were silenced the moment they met him. She squeezed the little boy in a half hug, tickling him gently as he squealed in delight and jostled her sling a little. She didn't mind.

The moment Ixis knew she had a little brother she had dug around in her old room to find a much loved hawk stuffed animal to give him. Jerimiah had latched onto it immediately and to placate her mother she had said she bought it for him. He deserved something from his older sister.

"Ixy?"

Ixis turned her head a little too quickly, her curly hair getting tugged by her little brother but she gently pried his hand away and distracted him with his new favourite toy. The Fire Traited locked eyes with her mother and the sight of a similar faded hat.

For a moment, Ixis' mind conjured a familiar image of a smoking Shadow Traited sitting at the end of her bed and chatting to her as if she hadn't murdered an entire room of people days ago. Still grappling with how she had agreed to such an insane plan from a mass murderer, Ixis had completely missed the conversation.

"Cole's out keeping an eye on Garrus in case he does something he shouldn't. I'll take Hawky outside for a bit." Kalaris repeated, hands outstretched and waiting for her to move.

Her grey, metallic apron looked heavy under her industrial strength clothes and judging from the amount of dubious stains, soot, dust and ash stained all over her she had probably rushed back from work to cater for the funeral. Ixis' mother tossed her familiar, chemically treated gloves on the counter, her rolled up sleeves revealing the tell tale signs of the kiln with fresh burns on her hands.

Kalaris' brown hair was messily tied up in a bun with strands of grey peeking out as she quickly untied her work clothes. Her mouth was pinched in a tired smile but her grey eyes were kind despite the circles under her eyes as she rested a gentle hand on Ixis' shoulder.

"They're gonna light the lanterns now so don't miss the Bluestone ceremony. It ain't no fancy Opalian Ashes of the Fallen but it's important. You're up last in the lineup so don't forget, okay?"

Ixis fought the urge to sigh, not wanting to let go of the little munchkin but she stood up and fixed her sling before passing him back to their mother. Leaning in for a half hug the awkward exchange turned into a side pat once Kalaris turned her attention to her son.

"Sure. I'll head outside now."

Ixis knew how hard her mother worked despite her unconventional Ash Trait. A colliding mix of flame and earth, Kalaris had jumped from job to job over the last few years simply to stay afloat. She lacked the flame control of a Fire Traited and solid structure creation of an Earth Traited but her mother had better temperature sense than anyone in Opalis.

But her temper had gotten her kicked out of bartending in the Dirty Troll tavern and the kilns in Pelt were on their last legs. Her Ash Trait constantly turned the clay to dust. It was like asking a Water Traited to stop a volcano. Her mother couldn't help it just as much as Ixis couldn't help but be drawn to the fire. It was why she found it so hard to tell her how well she was doing in the Excelliars when Kalaris was barely keeping things together.

"And Ixis? Look after your wrist. I know you want to help the Excelliars but...don't overdo it, okay? I know you're only an apprentice but you still need to be careful."

Ixis didn't have the heart to tell her the truth. All she could do was smile and headed to the front door to make her way outside. She grabbed one of her father's old fireproof jackets and wrapped it around her, pulling up the hood despite only having one usable hand. Tying a threadbare scarf to keep out the cold, Ixis made her way down the crumbling steps, taking a deep breath away from the cramped flat and into the chilling air. The shame of lying to her family about her career sobered the moment she stepped outside.

The clusters of bystanders had gone from chatting amicably to awkward silences and judging stares. Ixis pulled the coat as tight as she could, ignoring the whispers and longed for the pristine armour of the Excelliars. The sense of community she had once felt in the Undercity had evaporated the moment she stepped outside.

"Y'know, you could light all these lanterns yourself and save your old man from doin' his back in?"

Ixis immediately turned on the accusator, her glare softening at the familiar, boyish grin on her father's face. Her father wore a faded hat that helped protect his eyes from the lantern's light, Ixis' eyes wide at the same one popping up within days of each other.

Coltin Hawkinson leaned against one of the many lanterns dotted around Beggar's End much like he used to but Ixis could see the aches and pains of age. It seemed only yesterday he was picking her up onto his shoulders with ease. Yet here he was still acting like a man twenty years younger despite the occasion and the loss of his niece. He hadn't changed a bit.

"Here I thought it was about the tradition of it all?" Ixis joked back, folding her arms much like her mother did.

Coltin had a much rounder face than his brother Garrus who was slumped against a crumbling wall at the edge of the group, lacking the same scar on Coltin's chin from a sparring accident when they were young. Somehow wooden swords were more dangerous than summoning fire or shadow.

"Missed you, little wisp."

"Missed you too, dad."

The two embraced for the first time in what felt like years and knowing her lack of days off it probably was. Coltin had been away at work for the past few days that she had been home, unable to tell him everything that had happened. Not even a letter had been exchanged between them.

"Come on, we have a lot of catching up to do."

Cole hooked his arm around his daughter's, careful not to jostle her wrist as Ixis followed him just like she used to.. Despite the guilt eating away at her, she couldn't stop smiling at being reunited with her father again.

Staring at the numerous Shadecaller's dotted among the crowd, Ixis counted how many similar uniforms there were to her ex Regent. Unlike the all black of the traditional lamplighters the rest of the onlookers were haphazardly dressed, incredibly thin and dirt ridden. Just like Beggar's End namesake. It was considered so bad that not even beggars would live here.

"Well, well, well. Look at you, little Ixy. Moving up in the world, are we?"

Ixis winced, attempting to fix her hood and avoid her drunken uncle. Garrus could barely keep himself upright, the bottle giving him more support than the broken wall ever could. Ixis didn't know much about him or what had happened but the soft spoken, reversed and kind man wasn't anywhere to be seen tonight.

"Now, now brother. Don't tease her too much. That's my job." Coltin said, trying to keep the conversation light.

The arm around her tensed, her father's usual casual nature far more hesitant around his elder brother. Ixis couldn't help but notice him brush a hand through his hair, his red hair now ashen grey from stress or time she didn't know which. It made her cling to her father a little tighter, longing for the stories of his youth where he had been caught stealing food when his red hair they both shared gave him away.

"Of course. Not many of those going round nowadays after those ivory idiots got involved. Couldn't even keep mine. But I heard you and the wife have plans to ditch us for Griffin's Point, huh?" Garrus reminded them bitterly, taking another swig of his bottle.

Ixis couldn't help but pity him, wondering how he had gone from someone who threw himself into work to avoid the pain of grief only to collapse into drink a few days later. While she had been stuck whining in the infirmary he lost his daughter, was wrongfully arrested and then fired from what little work a Shadow Traited could do in the Undercity. Coltin had hired him but Garrus had only seen it as a pity hire and had refused the charity from his younger brother.

"Maybe you need to ease off the Blackwing, Garrus. We're gonna start the Bluestone ceremony soon-"

"What good is that gonna do?" Garrus snapped, immediately turning on his younger brother.

Ixis instinctively took a step back but her father stood his ground, calmly allowing his brother to vent his frustrations. She couldn't provide herself the luxury, her mind still swimming with the aftermath of the protests and Aria's insistence on capturing innocent Shadow Traited. She didn't want to say 'I told you so' but hopefully, if she foiled Rider's plans and arrested her for her crimes then there would be no need for any more of this chaos.

"Gracie is gone and we don't even have her ashes to perform the Ashes of the Fallen even if we wanted to. She damn well deserves better than the Bluestone and you know it. She wasn't a demon to be warded away. She was...my daughter."

The urge to hug her uncle was clouded by how little she had grown up with him or little Gracie. He was the uncle who stayed on the sidelines and hid his heroics until things were in dire straits and would fight tooth and nail to overcome them. Ixis had heard so many good things about him, even stories about how he had risked his life rescuing Gracie from the Bolthole gangs.

"Garrus..."

Ixis had already joined the Excelliars full time by then. She grimaced at the pain and his behaviour, recalling how everyone either tiptoed around her uncle or tried to subtly keep an eye on him. Garrus had even sent his Oathed away on an errand after a drunken shouting match had turned sour. She knew how bad things were from distancing herself but she never thought it was this bad. Ixis couldn't just stand there and watch him suffer, she had to say something, anything even if she got yelled at.

"The Bluestone is to guide the way for Trollians, for childlike spirits to find their way back to us even if we can't see it yet. I know it's not what you want and it doesn't change the fact of what happened. But we can remember her." Ixis said, attempting to give her own awkward support.

She fidgeted nervously, not sure whether she had said the right thing or whether to excuse herself from the conversation without her father. Ixis was easily distracted by other Shadecaller's beginning checking the lamps, unscrewing the light fixtures, pre testing lighting and relighting the candles away from the main display and pocketing any faulty one's.

Garrus spit in her face.

"The Hell's would you know about that, ya damn Traitor. You left for the Land Above and wouldn't give a Guilar to your parents in your rise to fame. Or are you gonna keep lying to yourself as well as them, my Regent?"

Coltin punched him in the face.

Ixis was too shocked to feel disgusted, wiping the spit off as best she could but everything had devolved into chaos. Her mild mannered uncle and endlessly forgiving father turned on each other. Shadow and Fire Traits in hand and ready to clash until a loud clatter broke them from their fighting stances. Sandwiches rolled onto the ground as the tray of food her mother was carrying crashed to the ground.

"What are you...."

Kalaris' shout was cut short by the wail of her son, the Ash Traited struggling to soothe him and her Trait. Her gaze fell upon the duelling brothers, her tantruming toddler and then, the focus of all this disruption. Ixis herself.

"Kallie, he called Ixis a Traitor. What was I supposed to-"

"She ain't just a Traitor, she's the second in command to that damn white knight bitch. The infamous Regent of Opalis!"

In that moment, Ixis' hopes of retaining her relationship with her already broken family shattered. Her green eyes met with her mother's disappointed one's and her heart sank. Kalaris wasn't just disappointed. She was furious.

Her secret was out.