My head has always been so full of thoughts. Words upon words upon even more words. After all this time... feeling Axil and Zaria's arms around me, there is not a thought to be found in my brain. I'm utterly speechless, like a trance has been put over me and I'm floating.

For a moment, I do think. And I worry, what if this is all just a dream? What if this is an elaborate vision John is showing me to torment me, and that's the reason I feel like I'm floating?

My heart starts to speed and my breathing gets faster as the panic starts to creep in that is until I hear her voice.

"Thank you," she says, and her voice sounds like melted chocolate.

This has to be a dream.

"It's not," I hear a whisper and this time I know for a fact that it is John. And once again, I swallow the feeling of comfort his soothing voice gives me. Nonetheless, I listen and even if he's lying, I let myself believe the fantasy for just a few more moments.

She breaks away and the moment she lets go my skin misses the warmth. She takes half a step back, still close enough for me to see the brilliance in her eyes. They sparkle and I know it's not from the teardrops forming in her eyes.

She quickly wipes them away and sniffles. "I can't believe—" she starts. "I've — We've been so worried. How did— Where were you guys?" she asks in a tizzy, her hands gripping her hair at her scalp.

Axil opens his mouth to say something but before he can even get a word out, she starts again.

"I'm so sorry," she says and there is no stopping the tears this time. "I shouldn't have written anything. I shouldn't have been so reckless. What if you had—"

"Hey, hey," Axil coos reaching out and embracing her. "We're all alright. Everything is okay, now."

He rubs her back in steady strokes and she takes labored breaths. I've never seen Zaria ugly cry. Even when she got shot by her own father or saw her mom get murdered right before her eyes, I've never seen her absolutely break down.

The moment feels too private and I look over to my dad. He looks back over to me. Oh, how it's been too long, how we have had to keep our family a close secret.

His eyes meet mine and for a moment it's like looking through a mirror. His deep brown eyes soften and I can feel all the unspoken words he's trying to say. I look around his shop and see all the things he has collected. I remember when the shelves were still empty and these walls used to be my climbing grounds. I remember all of the games I would play with my imagination and those planks of wood. Now, they're filled with ingredients, potions, and a tiny bit of stowed-away magic.

Zaria finally pulls away after her cries soften and she looks at me, then at my dad, then back to me, and I know she's thinking it, so I stretch out my hand and say," Zaria, this is my father. The one I told you about." I look over to my dad and he smiles gently at Zaria.

"I know," she says groggily and my heart jolts.

"You know?" I question. My mind starts flooding through all of the time I had seen Lucy and Zaria together, whispering amongst each other along the hallways and corridors. Lucy must have told her. My chest starts to feel tight again. I told Lucy to keep it a secret. I told Lucy that I wanted to be the one to introduce my father to her when the time was right.

I hang my head and I can see my dad out of the corner of my eye wondering what the big deal is.

Why is it a big deal? Why does it mean so much?

I shake my head. Everyone outside the walls of Lumbridge thought of me as an orphan after my mother died. I was "tiny little Crista," the girl who was too wild for this world. My father became the part of me no one else knew about. And then there was Zaria, whose father never loved her. I thought maybe at the right moment... at the right time I might be able to share that part of me with her and she wouldn't hate me for it. How is anyone supposed to present their parent who would do anything for their family to someone whose parent tried to kill them every other day?

"I figured it out after a while ago," she says and my eyes widen. "The second I walked into this place it reminded me of your room, Crista. I thought it may have just been a coincidence, but then I came here one night frantically looking for some answers. I had said I would help you with your research," she looks over to my father, "And you said I sounded just like your daughter. I knew you had to have been Crista's dad." She chuckles and looks back and forth between us. "I mean, look at you two."

I look between Zaria and Axil and they both hold each other. I hear the familiar raspy chuckle from my father and I can't help but smile hearing it. A wave of stupidity and shame rolls through my body, but for once it doesn't reach the fragile part of my brain. Almost like a shield, it seems as though it's been blocked.

"Lucy is going to be so happy when she sees you two. She's been so worried."

Axil squeezes her tighter. "We've been worried so much about you." He cocks his head and looks her in the eye. "We thought you had gone after Eden. Where did you go?"

Zaria's face falls and she sighs. "I was afraid you might think that." She pauses. "I'm so sorry."

I don't need my magic to feel exactly how she is feeling. My heart aches for her as I watch her almost fall apart again. She shakes her head and squeezes her eyes shut. Axil keeps rubbing her back and she sniffles, subtly wiping at her eyes like she has an itch instead.

Looking up at my dad she starts to speak, "Mr. Griffin told me that we must follow the mark and it would lead us to the answer. It was Lucy. She knew of a place at the Spring Equinox Festival called Crow's Point."

So, it was Lucy's plan all along, I think to myself. Not Zaria's.

She goes silent, and I've known her long enough that by the look on her face, she is keeping something. Axil must feel the same way because he coaxes her on. "And?" She stays quiet, her gaze fixed to the floor. He looks down at her trying to catch her eyes. "Did you find anything?" he tries again.

"Umm..." she stalls. "Yes."

My heart skips a beat and I almost jump. I hear my father gasp and Axil's eyes widen. "What?" he asks impatiently. She doesn't answer. Instead, she seems to look as though she's going to cry all over again. My goodness, and I thought I was the emotional wreck over here.

"What?" he says again, shaking her a bit, trying to get an answer out of her. "What happened?"

"Axil," I say, and my voice is a whole lot calmer than I thought it would be. He looks up at me and I can see the craze in his eye. I shake my head. "Give her a minute."

He takes a deep breath and the room suddenly is filled with suffocating silence.

One of Zaria's tears drips to the floor and the patter resonates through the whole room. "We—

I can tell by the look on her face she is trying to hide something, almost as if she knows something she shouldn't. The way her eyebrows crease together and her hands fist... What are you hiding?

"We have a guest," she says almost like a question, her voice getting higher. Her bright green eyes look up at me timid and afraid. Her eyes dart away immediately and the next words out of her mouth come out in one big jumble.

"We-found-him-at-Crow's-Point-and-he's-like-Lucy-...kinda-he-can-see-the-future-and-a-lot-more-than-just-the-future-andhe'sFae."

I have to squint while listening to her as her voice gets faster and quitter all at once. "Sorry?" I say. "I didn't quite catch that last point."

"Tyrian," she says quite loudly with a very fake smile on her face. "Tyrian is Fae."

Axil's eyes go wide and I can only imagine mine look the same. The Fae? Here?

"There is a Fae in the palace with my sister?" Axil asks in disgust.

Zaria sighs and lulls her head like she hasn't slept in days. "Your mother knows of it... and he's harmless – well unless he teleports you on top of a hill – but he's here to help," she pleads.

"How can you be sure?" my father asks in a soft voice. I had almost forgotten he was here with all of the excitement.

She shakes her head back and forth searching for the right words. "He— he has this connection with Lucy... and I don't know what it is or why they have it. They share visions and there were moments he could see her even before we met at Crow's Point. He was the one who approached us. It's as if he knew something was wrong. We came to Crow's Point for answers..." She shakes her head again and it looks almost as if she thinks she's crazy. "We went there for answers and the answer found us. It's not the ideal circumstance, but we have to trust that he's here to help," she says defeated.

It's silent for a long moment and the air seems too thick.

"Has he?" Axil speaks and his voice sounds hoarse. "Has he been of help?"

I look directly at Zaria as he asks the question, searching her face for all of the unuttered words. Her lips twitch into a somewhat smile before she bites it back.

"Yeah," she says, and the moment she speaks her face falls even more. "He has. He—"

She looks from Axil then to me and sighs. "Axil, there's something wrong," she looks over to me and her eyes glisten, "with the Crystal Cave. Something is wrong. It's freezing, and I can hear her voice. Eden is near and she's doing something with the magic."

"She's getting closer," He nods his head towards my father. "She's too close for comfort and I need her gone."

He bows his head, sighing. "You know I don't like trickery. I don't know—"

"What's going on?" Zaria asks and she takes a step back from Axil.

His jaw tightens and he cracks his neck before taking a deep breath. He looks at me and for a moment I'm scared he'll reveal my secret. Not here. Not now. He blinks and sighs.

"While we had been searching for you and Lucy, we" he gestures to me, "have had a lot of time to think things over. I... believe I know what her motives are and I know a way to stop it."

She nods her head, following along. "And?"

Axil seals his lips together and shakes his head. Zaria's eyes widen and she looks to me and I look to my father who is still standing uncomfortably, shifting back and forth. She looks back over to me. "Crista," she says, and the softness of her voice squirms it out of me.

"I think it's time we pay the heirs a visit again."

Her mouth falls open and she breaths out as though I told her a sick joke. "W—What? Why?" She zips around to Axil. "Why?" she says more defensively. "What are you planning?"

He catches her arms in the air and right in that moment his sleeve slides just enough to see the dark swirls of ink. She stops in her tracks and frantically pulls at his jacket before he can stop her.

She gasps, faltering back into a cabinet. Glass bottles fall off the top shelves and break as they hit the floor. It doesn't register to her and not even my father is upset at the disturbance. She clasps her hand over her mouth and my heart rips seeing her so disheveled. One blow after another, after another...

"She—" She shakes her head and tightens her jaw. "She's gotten to you too." Her whisper shakes and she looks as though she's seen a ghost.

He quickly covers his arm with his hand, but it's too late. The damage is already done.

"Zaria." His voice softens and he steps towards her. "Please... don't freak out," he pleads.

"Don't freak out?! Are you insane?" she yells. "Axil, you're the future King of Lumbridge."

"And because of my rank, I can understand Eden even more. Zaria, I need you to trust me on this."

Her eyes redden around the edges and her cheeks blush as deep as the saffron she just knocked over. I brace myself for her outrage, but it never comes. Instead, I hear my father clear his throat.

"Perhaps..." he says, his voice calmer than I expected. "Zaria and I should speak alone. I can explain to her what you've told to me."

Axil spins around crazily, but it doesn't faze my father. He himself has seen the darkest side of Eden. An emotionally crazed prince doesn't rattle him. He raises his eyebrows and nods his head towards the door. "Go. Give us some time. We'll only be a moment."

Glaring at my father, he huffs. Gently kissing Zaria on the forehead before he leaves, I follow after him giving her a reassuring pat on her shoulder.

Traitor, my mind tells me.

"No," says that familiar voice. And I wish he would say something more, but he goes silent. I click the door behind me and see Axil sitting on the stairs. I sit down next to him and lean my head on his shoulder.

"They're here," he whispers, and while not all of his tension is gone, the relief in his voice is beautiful.

"We found them," I say and he rests his head on top of mine.