11

After a moment, he spoke again, "Look. Here." Miriya looked up curiously as she followed where he was pointing to and realized with surprise that he was referring to what appeared to be a list of names that had somehow found their way inside the note Mirya had received that morning, written in familiar handwriting that she recognized immediately.

'Erik, Rohan, Erza, Elfman.'

She looked over to meet Circe's gaze and noticed that it was filled with shock as well as a certain amount of confusion. "But why are these here? What…what are these doing here?" Miriya asked softly, looking back at the parchment again. Circe's brow furrowed slightly as he studied the list himself, reading over the names as they were listed aloud, seeming to be looking for an answer. He didn't reply though as he turned to glance toward the door before speaking again.

"Well, it appears that we've been brought back to Erebor after all," He said, a hint of disbelief coloring his tone. It appeared that he was beginning to process the fact that Miriya and he had actually managed to find a solution after hours of fruitless searching. There was a sense of accomplishment in his voice as he spoke. "I guess we'll have to talk to Mira after all. Now we just need to figure out what exactly happened." He smiled as he sat down at Miriya's desk, opening up one of the books that she kept there for inspiration. Miriya smiled back.

"Let's call the others back in and figure out what exactly happened first before going anywhere else. I doubt they'd agree to go back so soon if they thought this could possibly be dangerous." She suggested, moving to stand up. Circe stopped her, putting his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him questioningly before he spoke, smiling softly.

"No, wait. We don't want to call them yet until we figure things out. Let them have their breakfast, get dressed, and take our time before calling everyone together. We might as well spend the rest of our day here until we have to do something important later anyway. And besides, I think I'd prefer spending the day with you rather than waiting around to call everyone back." His smile grew wider as he watched the realization spread across Miriya's features. A smile slowly crept onto her lips as her cheeks turned red. She nodded hesitantly before heading downstairs.