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As the daylight slowly sunk itself beneath the far-off mountains on the distant horizon, I prepped myself for the undoubtedly long night ahead of me. In my warmest coat, in my thickest jeans… tying tight the laces of my old, worn hiking shoes.

"Remind me again," uttered again the frowning lips of a face scrunched tight in utter confusion. Why can\'t - what\'s-her-name - Sarah, wake your phoenix friend up by herself? Why does she need you?" 

"Sera, not Sarah, say it with a hard \'e\'," I corrected, immediately moving on to my right shoe just as I was done with the left, continuing on as I did. "And she needs me because she\'s only the channeler. Someone else has to actually go and do the grunt work of waking her up."

Those lips continued to remain in a frown. "And so why does that someone have to be you?" 

"Many reasons," I replied, stamping my foot on the ground making sure it\'s settled in just right. "Most of them I\'m not quite too sure myself. But just take my word for it when I say it has to be me and only me, alright?"

The bed sprung up slightly the moment I lifted myself off. It bounced and wobbled for a bit, and by extension, so did Sammy, still sitting slouched on one end, somehow frowning even more.

"Okay, then one more question before you go," She said, eyeing me with a somberness to her gaze that only made her frown all the more prominent. "Why aren\'t you letting me go with you?" 

I knew this question was bound to crop up sooner or later. Luckily, the night wasn\'t the only thing I\'ve been prepping for.

"In case you forget," Sammy continued. "I came here to keep an eye on you. I can\'t really do that if I\'m confined to the house."

"I got work in the morning. You got the address, you can see me there after."

"But I want to know what you do before that after. Sleeping phoenix, fictional necromancer - alarm bells are ringing in my head, and I\'m supposed to just sit here?"

With a smile, I attempted to make light of the question. "Sera\'s not particularly fond of strangers." 

"I\'m your sister," Sammy retorted, stroking Mr. Black curled by her side for an ease to her unease. "Hardly a stranger if you ask me." 

"Listen - "

"It\'s not dangerous, is it?" She suddenly asked, glancing up at me with wide-open eyes as if the thought only just struck her. "This thing you\'re doing - it\'s that why you don\'t want me to come?" 

I swear this girl, when it comes to sniffing out anything suspicious, she only comes second to Irene herself. 

I kept my smile light. "It carries some risks - "

"Risks?"

"But nothing that you shouldn\'t be tossing and turning, losing any sleep over," I quickly finished before her paranoia could silence me again. "Look, you\'ll see. I\'ll be back before you know it."

But it didn\'t matter what I said, there wasn\'t any simple way to remove the creases from her forehead. 

"But hey, here\'s a bright side for you," I said, trying anyway. "I can\'t contaminate the bed if I\'m not here, it\'s all yours for the night." 

Wasn\'t much of a bright side it seems from the look she gave me. "Yeah, no, I still rather have the floor." 

I shrugged, I did my best. Suit yourself, then.

Sammy kept wary eyes watching me on my way out the room, it\'s as if she wanted to say something, another question, another concern maybe, slinging the conversation back to beginning… but ultimately she looked as if she was stuffing the words back down her throat, probably thinking she took enough of my time already… or maybe she didn\'t want herself to look worried about me.

She\'s caring like that…

Before I went though, I stopped once under the doorway, turning back towards her. "Remember, if you need anything while I\'m gone - "

"I can ask Ash for anything, yes," She finished for me, rolling her eyes drearily. "I heard you the first twenty times already." 

"And no more stupid questions for her alright?"

"Can\'t promise that." 

I waved her goodbye, and she very reluctantly saw me off with a hurried wave of her own. After shutting the door, I was out into the hallway, and while walking along, found myself glancing briefly at the closed door of the guest room.

Amelia came back after lunch, early evening… did so unannounced too. Nearly exploded my heart walking into the room and finding her staring back in the corner there. 

When inquired about her disappearance, the only answer she\'d relinquish to anybody that asked would be "Lunch". Which, going by the slight tinge of red in her fangs, was probably likely. 

Adalia, meanwhile, finally woke up shortly after, and upon learning of her sister\'s current whereabouts for the next few days, made for the guestroom at record pace where she has now been ever since. 

Haven\'t a clue what those two were doing in there behind closed doors, but I don\'t think they\'d much appreciate my ear pressing against the door. For the time being, I left them well alone with their affairs while I made my way down to the ground floor.

Ash met me on the way to the front door. In fact, she was already standing there way before I even got there like a guard stationed on her post. She looked happier, brighter, no doubt the fact that Sammy was talking to her so casually over lunch has got her feeling a lot better even if there was still a bit of lingering tension between them.

Slow and steady, I suppose. 

"She gets snack cravings in the middle of the night sometimes," I informed her, and her ears perked up, heeding my every word. "Try not to spoil her too much, alright?" 

Ash bowed in response, speaking, "Of course, Master," and rose again, finishing, "But I highly doubt tonight that she\'ll acquire a craving for anything at all." 

"And if she tells you to bring her to me where I\'m going…" 

"I know not where your destination lies," She bowed again, affirming. "Rest assured, Master, I\'ll be sure to watch over her as I have done for you." 

Two Matriarchs across the hall, an Elf-Knight of the highest caliber vigilant throughout the night, Sammy could not be in safer hands. I doubt even the president is this well-guarded.

So in case anything were to happen while I\'m out… no, what the hell am I even saying? Nothing\'s gonna happen. Why would it? Sammy would be just fine. We\'ll all be.

I opened the door, and already the cold breeze of dusk nipped away at every bit of exposed skin. I\'m really not looking forward to staying overnight outside, I\'m practically begging to get a cold, but oh well… duty calls, Sera calls.

"Okay, Ash," I smiled at her. "I\'ll see you tomorrow, I guess."

Ash, in turn, after returning the smile, took a few steps forward, leaning in close, before planting a single quick kiss across my lips. 

"To reinvigorate your spirits for the night," She said, drawing backward a single step, her narrow ears squirming, burning red. "I do hope it will serve its purpose well." 

I smiled even wider. "Purpose served." 

Ash bowed again in farewell, but also probably subtly hiding how flushed her face had gotten. I took that chance to gently pat her head, gently, tenderly stroking her long white silver hair.

Afterwards, she watched me out from the porch side as I walked out the driveway and into the streets. We kept our gazes locked to each other until it was inevitably wedged apart from our distances growing ever further.

During the bus ride on the way to the park, I could only think about what this meeting tonight would entail, what Sera wanted to discuss about… and why it had taken this long to finally talk about it.

And when those thoughts had run their course, I found myself drifting to thoughts of Ria. If I get the chance to see her again tonight, what else would I uncover? What memory will I be shown? And perhaps, this time… I might actually get to talk to her real her once more.

I got so immersed riding deep and far in my train of thought, I nearly missed my stop, and it was only thanks to my familiarity with the bus driver on duty that I got off on time.

Thanks, Harry. You the man,

Into the park, I went. Off the beaten path, I traversed. By now, I was an expert rummaging through bushes, skipping over uprooted roots, and I made it to our usual meeting ground at record pace.

There, sprawled across the small open field of grass, glowed a dim burning orange. At this point, I\'ve known Ria longer asleep than I have awake, and really that fact alone was nothing but fuckin tragic to me.

But not for long. Tonight, I\'ll get her out. Tonight, I\'ll know. And tomorrow… we\'ll see what happens tomorrow.

For now, I took a seat beside the slumbering campfire and got myself prepped. First thing first, let\'s see what this deliberately enigmatic Fey has in store for me. 

Good news, maybe?

Hell, considering her… I seriously really doubt that.