Caretaker

"Right now on The Sparrow," the reporter started on a static television in front of two glasses with a tall bottle of Ataraxia(Firebloom wine). The strong rainfall made it suitable for one to douse their stomachs with hot liquor.

"Warning: To those who are eating their meals please exercise caution as this news can create a displeasure in your appetite. The citizens of Pueblo Tres were shocked upon stumbling on a thrown blender with a cat inside." A loud 'plop' resounded as the cork was freed from its almost eternal position as an obstruction. "Unfortunately, the poor animal did not survive as its lower regions were blended down. The local police are now collaborating with international detectives on solving one of the many cases of animal slaughter."

And the television was turned off with its remote flown to the gods knows where.

"Boss? What are we going to do?"

"You coward now? Just as we always do, sit down and drink" The 'boss' poured his glass with ataraxia, the flowing wine sounded refreshing as it bubbled and sizzled. The said lackey swallowed air in fear, "But boss, eventually they'll spot a pattern and-"

"BAHHH,"The other inhaled sharply in annoyance, we have tons of money ey? Money can solve anything"

A short moment of silence but pitter patter of rain pouring on the roof passed when meowing sounds came behind the door.

"It's haunting us boss!" A frightened voice said which the other made a 'tsk' sound. The boss stood up from his chair and angrily stomped to open the door. Behind the wooden slab was a cat drenched in rain, meowing repeatedly in hopes to find shelter from the rain.

"See? It's just some stupid cat" The boss said, "Get lost you little mongrel!" In an instant, the cat was kicked away from their vicinity, landing on a bush distances away.

"Why'd you do that boss?!"

"Yea, why'd you do that?" Both men in the house froze when a feminine voice chimed in. Their television suddenly fell and his lackey backed to a nearby wall.

"B-b-b-boss?" He trembled after lightning lighted the surroundings for a brief moment, revealing four black felines stalking him. A girl seemingly 5'4 stood behind his boss with shoulder length hair and something behind her back.

"Get lost missy. Didn't you see this is a private property???" He slurred as the younger woman he referred to, chuckled.

"Your foot seems to be inching....." the shadowed figure said, her expressions unseen but by flashes of lightning it revealed an expression to kill. Paired with a twisted grin, a machine whirred behind her to which the man gulped and backed out, sweating profusely as it mixed with the rain.

"I'll do you a favor of scratching it out~"

"N-no stay back!"

-----

In contrast to the bright sky adorning the country of Icycillis, the atmosphere inside the medbay was grim.

"What?!" Xiuying poked her head over their cubicle to see her master conversing with Yato, she deadpanned but proceeded to listen to the conversation.

"Yes, Lady Nieve, it appears that several cases such as this surfaced the same time animal cruelty was prominent"

"Good for them" Her master said haughtily that Yato scrunched his face.

"Well, they torture animals for kicks. What comes around goes around" Adrianna quotes with a shrug. Well, she does have her own type of justice: it's not a crime if you deserve it.

"I guess that's another work for Madame Velaria"

Xiuying slipped back to watch over her sister. She wiped down the sweat on her forehead and brushed Linthea's hair away from her face. The younger sibling straightened her blanket and patiently waited for her to gain consciousness.

Linthea woke up an hour prior to this moment but mere seconds only passed when she blacked out again due to a severe headache where the whole room was deafened by her screams, Xiuying hugged Soren tightly whilst crying, burying her face on the fabrics of his attire with Soren looking away with his fist and jaw clenched in anger before Adrianna injected her with a serum that renders her to fall asleep peacefully in any case.

Adrianna and Yato took their conversation somewhere else when Soren got inside, his brow furrowed upon seeing Xiuying and sighed,"Xiu, we need to talk about Lin" Xiuying looked from the device she's playing and stood up with a quizzical look; she's never seen him so serious before lest the tone of his voice.

"Alright...but who'll watch Jiejie?"

Soren gave her a pat on the shoulder as his voice turned back to the normal gentler tone,"Don't worry, Kale's watching" and Kale arrived just in time for his duty.

Soren turned towards the door with Xiuying following close but not without lingering an eye to Kale's back.

"As always" Xiuying gaped at what she heard, confirming her thoughts that there's more to her sister's relationship with that guy.

----

Soren stopped outside the building and sat on one of the benches away from the entrance, enigmatically, that Xiuying suspected he had become blind with rage. Slowly following his actions, she sat inches next to him and silently inquired for his presence.

"You need to know something about Linthea" he started.

"Go on?"Xiuying urged him calmly while studying his face of seriousness. She suppressed to question him of the grim look and instead listened to what he's about to say. "You always ask me, on why Lin doesn't have any powers, true?"Soren asked and all she can respond is nod her head anticipating for what comes next.

"The truth....is that she had powers but mother and father sealed them from her"

Xiuying was shocked. She thought- One can think she has a lot more to understand about their family, "What? Whoa, whoa, wait a minute! what kind of powers?"She inquired with excitement. Now she can piece together why her sister is one of the most wanted bounty of the Arc and a dangerous woman at that. Although this begs the question: Why is it sealed from her?

"Well, her powers are from mother's side only much stronger. She controls nature and every plant is at her disposal. I haven't learned the whole story to it since my time around the royal vault is short but there's this spirit beast that inhibited in her body that made her powers uncontrollable and puissant to contain at such a young age" Soren explained while Xiuying clasped her hands together with stars seemingly in her eyes, "Tell me more!"

Soren's POV

'Ah, she still doesn't understand'

"I know what you're thinking Xiuying but it's not all rainbows and unicorns for us. It all happened when you were just 3 years old. Father took us to the castle's training ground while mother was carrying you looking from a distant balcony. He explained that Linthea should train to control her powers and the beast with me as her training partner.."

Third person flashback

"Hey! Don't hold back on me, okay, I won't go easy on you anyways" Soren hollered at Linthea who's distances away from him, shaking while extending both of her hands in front.

"Oh, o-okay Soren" Linthea heaved a deep breath and formed her hands to a fist before letting it go languidly, engulfing it with a bright green light, "I'm ready!"she yelled back.

Trees surrounding the training grounds of Samaari's castle swayed as the leaves circled around the dark brown haired princess. Queen Qingshan looked down on them with worry as she held three year old Xiuying close to her bosom meanwhile her husband, Shurima stood straight away from the two Soren and Linthea, watching their movements patiently.

The princess took a small step back and looked as if she wanted to run away, her face washed over with fear as her colors drained from nervousness.

"Thé(Pronounced: Tey) control your powers and commune with the beast!" King Shurima strictly shouted from his spectating spot. Soren looked at his father to his sister and grimaced at how hopeless his sister looks right now.

'Father has no biases here' he tsk with a smile three times.

"Alright, here I go!"The prince raised his left hand to the air before a silver plated shield with a symbol of protection was summoned to his hand, "Trident of Lidagat!" After a bright shimmer, a long scaled blueish grey trident appeared with a lustrous blue gem at the centre and dragons at the edge, held in his right hand with its blades covered with cloth to prevent injuries.

Linthea was taken aback but composed herself before making a blade of her own from the leaves that flew around them and readied it to use. Soren held the trident forward and ran to his sister's direction where she easily blocked it with her blade of leaves forcing him back as she jumped away from him as well. Soren grinned on how fast his sister reacts while dodging the sharp wood spikes sprouting under him.

"Not bad sis"

"Thanks.."Lintea gave a nervous smile and met his trident again with hers. She used her spare hand to make a large vine sprout from behind her brother in attempt to encircle him with it.

Soren smirked and blocked Linthea's leaf blade with his shield before slicing her vines in half, rotating his foot in 180 degrees and tripping her down. The vine he sliced in half regenerated and flung him away from her to a nearest wall, the shield flew off his hands and vanished into thin air.

"Soren, are you okay?!"She covered her mouth with hands in fear. Her brother quickly stood on his feet to drown her worry.

"Don't be, as I said before, I won't go easy on you" he assured her and swung his trident in a rotating manner. Focusing on his speed and with a boost from his footing, Soren appeared in front of her where they clashed blades, Linthea was too shocked to react immediately thus her guard was down. Soren used that chance to back a little and tip off her blade with the end of his trident swiftly, securing his victory.

Linthea staggered back before she was steadied with the help of the vines from a crack nearby which held her like a vertical hammock.

"Try to summon your beast Thea!"King Shurima hollered to his daughter while the princess nods at her father before drawing a sign with her fingers.

"Release!"she focused on the spirit beast inside her, pleading for it to come out after a few unsuccessful tries.

...

...

...

"I hate losing anyway" Linthea jerked her head back with a gasp as her eyes turned white and voice darkened but nobody heard her from afar. Her head hung low for a few seconds before she faced forward with her eyes revealed to be a pair of emerald green with slits like a feline's eyes.

"Bow of Selene!" A long bow with ancient moon and asymmetrical carvings and small wings attached to each end appeared in Soren's hand as a silver arrow (with its tip already covered in a white cloth for training purposes) miraculously appeared from thin air into the drawn bow before he lets it go at Linthea's direction.

A hand grasped the wood of the arrow in mid-air before it reached someone's face.

"Nice aim. Good to see that the four godly weapons of Minala already chose a user"Soren noticed his sister's dark tone and readied his weapon, thinking why Linthea would speak so strangely.

With a swift bolt of movement, Soren was choke slammed to a wall by his sister wearing a victorious grin, his bow was detached from his hand and dissolved back to him. The first thing he noticed was her emerald eyes which alarmed him as Linthea's hands slowly tightened around his neck.

"Oh, how I missed the taste of flesh" The young boy felt fear in her words. His sister's hands were cold as with the look from her eyes which bore at him like a drill

"Lin snap out of it!"Soren managed to say as he struggled to break free. At the corner of his eye, he saw their father looking at them in suspicion. 'He must have thought we were still in training!'

As if by luck, the hold loosened a little and Soren used that as cue to headbutt Linthea with little strength left making her lose consciousness and drop in front of him. The young prince picked up the pace to tell his father about the situation.

"Dad! Lin is out of control again"Soren informed and took a look at the balcony where his mother recently stood to find her missing, "Mom must not worry about this" Shurima gazed from his son to his daughter who's slowly regaining consciousness and nodded with his eyes closed, "Ah, let's suppress her again"he told him in a gentler tone while readying a hand sign.

Linthea shakily stood up while a hand felt her forehead,"This girl is so weak...I could easily take over her body but her will is strong to keep me out in just minutes" She saw both King Shurima and Soren running to her direction and sneered haughtily.

"I'm enjoying my freedom, Shurima! Have some respect and let me lavish it!" She dashed forward and slash his face with her grown nails but Shurima was quick to evade with only three small cuts grazing his cheek.

Linthea was shocked when she fell to his trap and was too late when a forceful water threw her away, landing with a thud on the ground. She opened her eyes in time to avoid Soren's trident, "Nice try boy..but you still need practice" Linthea gave him a pat on the head before jumping away from the prince to quickly avoid the water bullets shot at her.

"Ugh! such a bore that we can't go all in because this body" She yawns as she lengthened her nails and slashed the air in an intersecting motion, "Daggers of Rage!"she repeatedly slashed, sending sharp claw marks to Shurima's direction who blocked it with his sword. Linthea hesitantly raised an arm to hold the handle of the incoming trident sent to knock her unconscious, she slowly turned to her attacker and glared at him with a devilish smile, "I told you... you're still a weakling" and in a swift movement, her left hand formed into a fist and came in contract to the prince' stomach,"These knuckles have spirit blades that could render anyone an internal injury, but don't worry this isn't plugged deep as I still have pity for young children like you" She whispered to Soren's ear. Her emerald eyes darted left and turned her body to block Shurima's sword with a swipe of her leg, "Hah! but you can't hurt me right?"

"Die!" The possessed princess yelled with rage as her right fist grew the same spirit blades that pierced Soren and aimed it to the king's face.

The moment seemed to slow down as Shurima ducked his head to avoid her fist's blades and landed a palm strike on her stomach releasing a strong force that flung her away from him, "I can't hurt my daughter but I won't let you consume her....Sayuri" Shurima said in a dead serious voice and looked down on her before running to his son's aid.

'This man- was that move.. a trap?'The beast thought while she laid on her back, "Nevertheless, this...this...isn't over yet Shurima! I'll still come back whether you like it. Or not." Her thin legs wobbled as her body forced them to stand and walk, an orange line curved out from the diamond mark on Linthea's forehead to her cheeks forming three lines in a shape of a tiger's claw mark,"This body will be mine-!"

"That's enough Sayuri!"A gentle yet authoritative voice yelled in a distance away from them. A vine encircled itself around Sayuri's left thigh hindering her ability to walk.

"Qingshan... you're annoying as ever" Sayuri managed to let out a light chuckle, "I missed you too, princess.." More vines appeared from the ground that encircled her other leg and elbows, she smirked to see the queen holding out her hand to suppress her.

"So how's Amara" She made a toothy smile when the Qingshan's expression darkened as the vines wrapped around her tightened its grip as if digging in her skin and severing her muscles and joints.

"Qingshan...the sweetest Princess who hides her emotions like a treasure in a box" Sayuri pressed on, addressing the woman who's walking towards her.

"You know nothing about me" Qingshan replied coldly as Sayuri's tattling mouth was covered tightly with a vine. In their background, a small group of guards took the injured Soren with them.

Strong winds blew as if contradicting the other from another direction. Trees around them swayed side to side as the diamond on Linthea's forehead glowed brighter and the orange line extends around her neck, Sayuri fisted her suppressed hands to summon an opposing vine from underneath which crawled their way up and down to Qingshan but failed to reach her as Shurima cuts them one by one.

Sayuri's feline eyes widened when the queen turned her hand counter clockwise and beckoned her vines to move her forward to the woman's direction who touched her daughter's diamond with two fingers. Sayuri rolled her eyes and huffed 'All right, you win this time Linthea'

"Seal!" The Queen uttered with force, releasing an invisible surge of energy around the area. Linthea's marks have gone away, crawling back to her diamond and fell limp on the vines' hold. Qingshan dropped to her knees to retrieve her daughter's unconscious body and looked at her husband with furrowed brows and a pout.

"I know..." Shurima said in defeat to his queen's expression expecting her to give him a handful of words.

"You could have called me you know?....This would've been easier to deal with" The brown haired woman complained that made Shurima smile a bit with a light blush on his face.

"Fine...next time I'll call you" He sighed as he reached down to carry Linthea with his queen by his side.

____

Soren's POV

"We should seal Sayuri and her powers away so she won't hurt anybody again"I heard Father say. I know eavesdropping in their conversation is bad but I just have to know who is this Sayuri exactly. Mother and Father were sitting at the bedside with my sister who is lying asleep with bandages around her face and arms,"I can't hurt Thé and if that happens again and many people are affected...I might lose her"

"Qīn'ài de, you're right. Her emotions are yet to be stabilized, sealing Sayuri would also give her a peaceful life in the future"Mother worriedly said as she wiped a tear from her left eye, "My poor darling..Princess Higanbana must be still alive to perform that ///// but why would one of her spirit choose our Lin"

"I know"Father sighed sadly and turned around to look at my sister's sleeping form,"I'm sorry Thé,"He brush a finger on her face, "It's for your own good"

They talked about sealing her memory, the ones of her powers and Sayuri to prevent her from remembering because the stronger her mixed emotions are when using her powers, the stronger Sayuri becomes in taking over her.

"I'll called my sister, she'll seal Thea's memories away while we seal her powers and the spirit beast"Mother turned to Father as his golden eyes had the look of guilt and pity as if he's about to cry, "It pains that I am not fair with her"

Father is always strict and rarely smiles except for Mother and us but I never saw this side of him before until now, "Qīn'ài de..... it's not your fault"Mother gently states in assurance and caressed Father's cheek with her left hand as he closed his eyes, leaned to her hand for warmth and gave her a small smile in which my mother lightly huffed. He plucked her hand and lightly kissed her knuckles.

I felt my face burn a little...I-I mean it's normal for parents to act like that right? I guess I'm never going to get used to it .

"Don't be too hard on yourself about this"She uttered as she slowly sets her hand back on supporting my sleeping sister. Mother turned him again, "The sealing is not permanent..is it?"

"Yes, her memory and powers will come back after her emotions have been stabilized. As for Sayuri, Thé will be the one to decide"

"You should go and tuck the kids to sleep...I know Soren is worried sick for his sister"Father suggested and I heard the shifting of fabrics and sounds of heeled shoes clicking,"You're right... I'll see you later" and with that I lightly tiptoed against the polished white stained floors and ran away to my room on the other side of the hall.

Flashback end

Third Person View

"Mother and Father....I wished I knew more about them" Xiuying smiled, what else but sadness hides behind that smile. She shook her head, "Lin must be really powerful huh?! With a spirit beast like Sayuri in her diamond and her nature powers..woah cool!"

"You have no idea"Soren laughed lightly at his little sister's reaction and shrunk back on the chair he's sitting, "Promise me, that you won't tell her until she's ready okay?"He moved a finger in front of his lips for secrecy, his voice back to its gentle tone.

"Of course big brother! Although, what did Father mean by stabilized? "Xiuying asked, twirling a piece of her brown hair around her fingers.

"You know our sister, the emotion she hides are bigger than her wardrobe..my conclusion is that when she let's it go, she'll reach the stability they meant"

"Hmph, I guess someone just has to do it for her" Soren nods. The wind around them turned humid signalling the arrival of mid-day and with that, the amount of people passing them seemed to decrease.

"What about the necklace Calyx took back from Tiolas?" Xiuying fished the pocket of her dress to give a necklace with a heart shaped pendant with symmetrical design; its heavy weight signifies that the materials used for the jewelry is not just silver and gold.

"Well....the other piece is usually needed because the necklace itself is the key to the Royal Vault...where certain things are kept"Soren pondered, "Lin has the other side of it" he eyed the necklace with scrutiny.

"Ohh I see, I forgot to tell you something cool that Yato told me. When they went to Tiolas, all the plants and trees seemed to bow whenever sis walked near them!" Xiuying piped up another story with excitement.

"I noticed it too when the both of us were on missions. Well, I guess her powers are already showing themselves"Soren spoke with a carefree tone, "If we can't let her go of her negative emotions, I guess we need her knight in shining armor..anyone in mind?"He continued with a smile.

"Your friend Calyx. He's got the soft eyed look when she's around" Xiuying looked at Soren for confirmation but found him new to the idea, "Don't tell me you never noticed???"

"AHAHA no, sorry...well, let's just hope he'll get around her tenacious wall. My bet is on Kale though" Xiuying guffawed, she didn't seem to disagree as much. The brown haired girl wiped her tears and stood up, beckoning her brother to return back inside.

"I still hope you won't go to Tiolas anytime soon. I know your calibre brother. I'm also saying this for your safety, what will Thea say when she wakes up knowing that you're not there? She will be mad and follow you and both of you ends up in the medbay again!" Xiuying rambled, closing her eyes with furrowed brows as she spoke.

"Alright, alright don't worry baby sis" Soren assured with a soft tone of a voice, patting Xiuying's head as he walked towards the entrance.

"Yayy! You promised alright!"Xiuying exclaimed with joy and ran to catch up with him, "I have to ask you something... it's about that Denohar woman she seems awfully concerned about you..are you two a thing?"

"What? No! Amanda.... she's just a friend. I don't like her because I have somebody else" Soren reasoned before his sister's searching eyes that reminded her of their mother bugging him about the princesses of different kingdoms, "I'm... currently searching for her everywhere" Xiuying's gaze softened and a hand patted Soren's back, the part that she can reach, "I'm sure you'll find her....she means a lot, yes?"

Soren could only nod in agreement.

////

Icycilis-Dusk

"How's your mission?" Dinner was quiet in the Tal Mino residence as it always was, absence of parents but was supplied by each other's presence was enough to keep the solemn atmosphere away.

"Ish was graef!" Gabriel replied, hid mouth full of broccoli stew. Zyrion grimaced at that but it's his brother's favourite dish soo...

"I totally kicked his ass haha!" Gabriel made a small punch on the table signalling his immense happiness with his older brother looking at him with a smile.

"Hm," Zyrion huffed with pride, " The more reason why I should go with you"

"Nahh, don't embarrass me brother" Gabriel took another spoonful of the dish, "By the way... how's Miss Nieve?" Zyrion almost choked on his food and looked at his brother's smug face.

"Ha! Still no progress? I told you she's a difficult nut to crack...I heard from her beloved apprentice that she closed all hope from men" the autumn haired man said but as soon as he saw his brother's face fall he almost felt guilty. Almost. Gabriel sighed internally, "Well, if it's you brother, I'm sure she'll budge, you're pretty much a smooth talker than I"

"Of course, I'm older than you" Gabriel's smirk was wiped off.

"Tsk, tsk, goodluck with her, not that you need it"He broke a taunting laugh, drawing a smile on Zyrion's face.

"If you're that generous, it's your turn to wash the dishes." He cleaned his part of the table and took his utensils away.

"Hey no fair! It was my turn yesterday" Gabriel retorts, still holding his drink.

"Is that so? If my memory serves, I cleaned yesterday"

"Don't worm your way out of this brother!"

------

Mylinggr- 7:00pm

Spending night-time in the country of Mylinggr is quite a bliss. Thrown quite right with the essence of a golden countryside view, fields adorned with gardenias and forsythias, the aroma of fresh bread and pastry, cobblestone roads, sturdy stone houses with flowering shrubs hanging from its balcony, and with the winds to protect this precious kingdom, everyone had a good night...well, almost everyone.

A few distances outside town sits an overlooking castle with trees and tall shrubs of amyrethis flower to decorate its entrance. Old blocks of the castle walls have been overrun by flowering vines and moss. An old bridge stretched towards the giant door that leads inside the castle and if you're wondering if there's a river underneath, no there isn't. Underneath the bridge is a land with a tall sanguine tree as its marker and if you go around the palace, you'll find yourself in a flower maze and soon see a gazebo where the princesses often enjoy tea and singing. The interior looks lavishing as well, accented with forest green, the house of von Frieden lives to the color of their element. Chartreuse tiles and chandeliers with emerald embellishments that decorates particular rooms of the castle with twin stairs etched, connecting the second and first floor. Hanging a shade of fabric that imitates the color of the forest with the house's sigil of a beautiful bird's head and its wing around the halls is also a must in this palace in order to flaunt how generously the wind blows according to an avian's perspective. 

Each flowers hanging by the castle walls was manually changed corresponding to the mood that this household needs and to prepare for the night, lavender scented air roamed the hallways of the castle as everyone gets ready to sleep.

"You called for me, mother?" Princess Cassandra walked inside the library, the place where the Queen often spends her respite.

"Sit, my daughter" Izstahra looked up from the paperwork she's handling and motioned her oldest to the chair in front of her table.

A moment of silence passed when the Queen broke it. "Cassandra, remember that time before when I said there will be a time for you to fulfill your duties as a princess of this kingdom?"

"Yes" the golden haired princess nods. Although she already knew where this conversation is heading, it's better if it's her mother who'll break it down to her.

"I have finally chose a man for you to marry, your betrothal" Cassandra stayed silent, head bowed with her heart pounding deafeningly in her chest. Her mother is often called a woman of steel for she is the law and a woman of decisiveness and strategic value; as her daughter, perhaps she can stop this and negotiate with her.

"You'll be marrying Prince Irith Desmond of Esgarde"

"No, I do not wish to be married to someone I don't love" Came her straightforward answer. Izstahra's ink slipped across her paper.

"It's for the best: Your safety, security and for the kingdom"Even though she didn't take her eyes off the paper she's holding, the Queen's voice grew in authoritativeness. Of course, she's also a princess not just a young woman, she has duties to fulfill and a country to protect...fate is sometimes harsh to her. Cassandra's heart ached as her eyes blurred from tears.

"Mama!" Cassandra suddenly burst out, "Don't do this to me...please!"

"Cassandra. A princess is not a slave to her emotions. "Izstahra paused and puts down the pen she's holding to see the state of her daughter. Her face showing signs of age and tiredness but her gaze was cold.

"You always do this! Deciding what you think is right, think of me too! Our country's about freedom right?! But why am I the only one with chains around my being, caged in a glass?!" Cassandra stormed off in anger. Tears glistened from her eyes, falling spontaneously from her gentle face as she walked her way out of the door.

"Cassandra Francesca-!" And she slammed it close, slowly descending from the door frame to the floor, wailing silently. Cassandra clutched her aching heart as she tearfully looked up the window to see the moon in parallel to her gaze. Slowly wiping her tears and hoped for their god to be the one listening to her pleas, she prayed to find true love and happiness in the future.

----

Notes:

Trivia: Calyx once confessed to Linthea but given her dense personality she took it as a promise of a stronger friendship and instead friendzoned him.

Ataraxia(Firebloom wine)-Native in Coronas and uniquely known for its strong taste enough to make even the toughest individual tipsy.