My head… Jaeden opened her eyes slowly, the light only making her head throb more. “Lucas?” she said instinctively, but then she blinked, remembering all that had befallen them. Luke was not there; he had been blown to bits, and she and everyone else had been separated when the ship blew apart. Disheartened a bit, she sat up, her hand going to her head immediately. She figured she must have hit it when she fell to the ground, and she knew that was careless since she easily had means of avoiding any injuries, even from such a distance. But that did not matter; she had much more important things to do.

“So you’re awake, eh?” a gruff voice said, and Jaeden immediately flicked her wrists. Her two falchions immediately appeared in her hands, and she held them to her side as she glared at the man standing before her. He just looked oddly at her for a while before starting to laugh. “Feisty, aren’t ya?”

Jaeden did not seem to like being laughed at, but she calmed herself a little with it since he did not seem to be as much of a threat any longer. “Who are you, where are we, and what am I doing here?” she demanded, not wasting any time in the questions since she could not feel her children anywhere near, which meant she needed to leave as soon as she possibly could.

The man raised an eyebrow. “Slow down, there. The name’s Thomas, we’re in my shop in Maia, and you’re here because my wife would kill me if I left a little girl out in the middle of nowhere alone and unconscious. That work for ya?” he said, smiling warmly to let her know he was not a danger for her.

She still seemed a little skeptical, but she nodded anyway, letting go of her weapons so that they would disappear. “I’m not a little girl. I may have that appearance, but I am thirty-three years old, so do not call me that again. As for being in Maia, I don’t recall being anywhere even near there, so can you explain to me how I got here of all places?”

Thomas watched her for a while, but then he just shrugged. “My apologies, then, miss. I forgot all about you Jumi not looking your age. Been ages since I saw one, ya know? And as for how you got here, I dunno. I told ya what I know, and I know I found you outside when I was delivering some materials, so I figured, hey, someone’s in trouble and I gotta do what I can to help. I wasn’t tryin’ to upset ya or anything, all right? I don’t know why you’re so cautious, but I guess you got your reasons, it bein’ this day and age and all. Might be why you were lyin’ out there like that. I dunno. I just know what I told ya, so can you please calm down a bit? It’s mighty hard to talk to somebody that’s actin’ like she’ll slit your throat if you screw up once.”

Jaeden just continued to stare at him, letting him say everything he wanted to say and still waiting as if there was more. When she realized he was done and what he was saying, she sighed, letting her body relax. “I’m sorry. My experience with strangers has almost always produced negative results,” she apologized, figuring it was necessary since he seemed like a nice person.

He just smiled at her again. “Sorry to hear that. There’s some awful people in this world that just weren’t raised right, and that’s a darn shame,” he said, trying to sympathize with her in case he had upset her any. “…Hey, miss, think I could, if it’s not too much trouble, get you to tell me how you just pulled those weapons out of th’air like that? Like to see ’em, too. They looked like some mighty fine craftsmanship,” he said, his curiosity getting the better of him now that she seemed to be a little more friendly towards him.

Jaeden nodded, producing her weapons once more for him and even handing them over to him without a second thought. “I can create anything I can think of and make it a reality. These two weapons I originally saw in some of my father’s books when I was younger, and I made them my own. They have had a lot of modifications since then, though, and have become my own. The shining silver one represents the light, and the shadowed blade represents the dark. Because my parents taught me both opposing elements, I have them working in unison to create a stronger force than typical blades can produce. Lucas helped me to make them indestructible, too, so they are very useful, to say the least,” she explained, having a lot more to describe if he was still interested, but she figured that was enough for the moment.

Thomas whistled, seeming very impressed as he turned the weapons over in his hands. He gave them a quick try, too, swinging them once or twice before handing them back to her. “I must say, I’m impressed. You got a real talent there, miss, to know so much about weapons and be able to make them just like that. You said you saw these pretty things in your father’s books? Your father a blacksmith, by any chance? He’d be one of the best if he passed such a power down to you. Put me out of business!” he said, laughing a little at the last statement.

She just looked at him oddly, not sure why he thought anything like that since she was not used to talking to people that were not aware of much greater things. Finally, she shook her head. “No, my father is a Knight, though he could certainly make weapons if asked. The power came from my mother, actually, though she uses different variations of it.”

“Your mother? So she’s a craftswoman, then? Or something else? …No, wait, I keep forgetting that you’re one of those Jumi. I don’t know why I forget since you got that pretty gem, there, but I do. So she’s a Knight, too, since she’s got some powers? Seems like you come from a tough family,” he commented, just working on what he knew since she was not volunteering any extra information.

Jaeden noticed this and sighed, shaking her head again. “My mother is a human, but she’s also more powerful than any Jumi. She is Amaryllis Youran, and my father is Elazul Lazuli. Perhaps that would better explain things since I’m sure you’ve heard of them,” she tried, getting a little annoyed with the questions even though they were perfectly reasonable.

He seemed very startled by that, his eyes wide. “Th-those are your parents?! The renowned Elazul and Amaryllis? Th-then you must be… Jaeden, right? Do forgive me for not realizing it before! I’ve only heard the wonderful stories. You’re mighty famous for saving the world, you know that? It’s truly an honor, Miss Jaeden,” Thomas told her, bowing a little since someone like that commanded respect.

She at first looked a little proud, but she quickly shook that off since that was no way for her to act. “Thomas, you may call me Jaeden. Anything I’ve done is because I had the power to do it. You helped me with what power you had, so you are as much of a hero as I am,” she explained, hoping to stop him from acting like she was some savior when she was not. Even so, she could not help but feel a little happy knowing that she was talked about with her parents; she did not care how much since even a little meant she was living up to their names.

Thomas nodded enthusiastically. “Thank you for your kind words. It’s still an honor to help ya out, though. Say, would you meet my wife? She’d be delighted to know the girl we helped is someone so famous!” he said excitedly, enjoying this quite a bit now. “Oh! I’m so sorry! Our house is so small we had to let you stay in my rickety old bed here in the workshop. We took care of you the best we could, though.”

Jaeden smiled a little, nodding to him. “Thank you. Please take me to your wife and I’ll gladly give my thanks,” she offered, waiting on him to lead her out to see the woman. It was the least she could do, after all.

* * *

…What? Crystal would have spoken the word out loud, but she found she could not speak at all. Something was covering her mouth, and even with her eyes open, she could see nothing. She tried getting up, but for some reason, she found all her limbs wouldn’t cooperate, either. As she further regained her awareness, she could feel the ropes around her arms and legs, and she knew her eyes and mouth were covered by cloth. She tried calling out, struggling, starting to panic at the thought of how she even got there.

“Hey, the little princess woke up,” she heard, the voice belonging to a young man. That set her mind racing with all the possibilities of what was going on, and she immediately began struggling again. “What’s the matter? Scared?” he asked her, his hand lightly falling onto her cheek and gently caressing it. She just jumped, shaking her head furiously, not wanting anyone to touch her.

Then the light. She blinked a few times, and she could suddenly see. The young man before her held her blindfold with just a finger, twirling it playfully as he watched her. “Hey there, cutie,” he said, to which she glared. He just smirked, easily jerking off her gag as well. “What’s your name?”

She continued to glare, finally turning her head to the side as indignantly as possible to show she was not playing his little game. “I asked for your name, you brat,” he immediately snapped, jerking her head harshly back toward him. She did flinch, looking a little afraid for a moment, but she kept herself silent. “Little bitch,” he muttered, looking like he was about to punch her, but instead her jerked harshly on her clothes. “Well, guess I’ll ignore the formalities and go straight to the fun, then. Your loss, not mine,” he decided.

The second he tried to rip her clothes, Crystal pulled back as best as she could, ending up on the floor with the chair. She winced, but she knew she was okay; these were her mother’s clothes and she was going to protect them. The boy, however, did not seem to like that, and he immediately jumped on her, eliciting a yelp from Crystal.

To that he had to smirk. “That’s more like it. Show me the fear a little spoiled brat like you is supposed to have!” he said, slipping one hand up her shirt and the other immediately went under her skirt. When she whimpered, he seemed to be enjoying himself more, and he grabbed hold of one of her breasts, the other hand having a bit of difficulty getting under her tights.

When Crystal felt his hand nearly slip under her underwear, she closed her eyes and cried out; the boy would not get any further. He fell limply over her, countless knives protruding from his back. She just lay there breathing heavily from such a sudden surge of power, looking like she was about to cry if she could.

I’m okay. You’re okay, Crystal… she told herself, taking a while before she was finally calm again. When she had control of her senses once more, she called on more of her knives to cut at the ropes, heaving the boy off of her once she was finally free.

She just stared at his bloody body, then looked at her own front, now covered in his blood. But what else was she to do? She did not know; she just felt the overwhelming sensation to break down right then. “Mommy? Cris…? …Tyler…?” she said rather suddenly, her eyes darting around for one of them. She did not see anyone, though, and she just started shivering, closing her eyes and calling for her mother or brother with her core. She just needed someone, right now.

* * *

“Crystal!” Jaeden was on her feet, very alert the second her core rang from the signal Crystal sent her. She was very far away, but that did not matter; Jaeden always knew when her twins needed her thanks to their cores. Unfortunately, though, she could not figure out where it was, only knowing that if she happened to be close.

“What is it, dear?” the woman sitting before her asked, Thomas matching her confused expression. “What of a crystal? Do you need one?”

Jaeden blinked as though coming out of a trance, just looking at the woman oddly for a while. “Oh, no. My daughter… She needs me now. I’m sorry, but I have to go,” Jaeden answered, not wanting to waste any time in trying to find her child.

The woman seemed surprised by that, and rightfully so. “I didn’t realize you were a mother, too. How old is-?”

“Sara, please. She said her child is in danger, so let’s not trouble her with more questions,” Thomas interrupted, standing up from his chair. “Jaeden, thanks for visiting with us as long as you have. You’re welcome here any time. We’ll be praying for ya to find your daughter, and I guess your husband and the rest of your family, too,” he said, extending his hand to her.

“I’m not married,” Jaeden answered, smiling a little. “Lucas was actually killed right in front of me, too, so don’t waste your prayers on that. But I will see him again. I’ll see everyone again, so I’m not worried,” she answered, surprisingly optimistic despite the circumstances. She could tell by the look on his and Sara’s face that they were pretty shocked by what she said. She just smiled. “Thank you for your help. I won’t forget it,” she continued, bowing before the two of them.

“No trou-…” Thomas began, but before he could finish, Jaeden was gone. He just turned to Sara. “We got some mighty fine heroes protecting this world, don’t ya think?” he said with a smile. Sara had to nod in agreement.

* * *

“Mother! Cris!” Crystal continually shouted as she ran, not even looking where she was going anymore. She was just trying to get as far away from where she had been as possible, and the only thing she really cared about was getting the attention of her family. She knew her father could not be reached, and she had given up on Tyler, but she at least had hope that her twin or her mother would feel how desperate she was and come for her.

Before she knew it, Crystal slammed hard into something metal, knocking her back hard to the ground. She winced and looked up at what she had hit, a bit surprised to see a man in very thick armor above her.

He just eyed her suspiciously. “What’s a little girl like you doing out on a battlefield?” he asked curiously. However, he did step in front of her, his back turned to indicate he was protecting her from any danger rather than being a danger himself.

Crystal picked herself up off the ground, moving to his side rather than letting him stand there. It was then that she saw all the other knights and militia men, as well as the many bodies and fallen animals littering the field. “I… I didn’t know,” she answered, looking all around at what was going on now that she had a good view of it.

“You have blood on you. Are you injured? You need to stay behind me or you could be hurt worse,” the man said, his attention more on her since he was not about to let a child get hurt in this war.

“No, I’m fine. It-” she began, but she immediately stopped, slinging her hand in the air. The knight next to her just stared with a look of horror on his face as he saw several arrows bounce away from him, small knives falling to the ground a few seconds later. “I’ll explain later. Don’t let me distract you and focus on your battle. If I were anyone else, you would have died,” she said softly, surprisingly calm now that at least someone was there.

“You’re quite the remarkable girl. Stay close, child. I’m going in!” the knight told her, charging back out into the battlefield since he felt rather alive after that near death experience.

* * *

“No, that’s all right. Thank you,” Jaeden replied, looking a little disheartened from the news, but she was not giving up that easily. She had already found her way to another town and asked all around for her daughter, but no one had heard a thing. While she was there, she also asked about the rest of her family, and the only information she could get out of anyone were rumors of her father. Of course, that was good news, but it just was not enough and not exactly what she wanted.

She took a breath, glancing around the town to figure out if there was anywhere she had not yet gone; everything seemed to be covered. Her idea of traveling traders or fighters knowing more about this than she did seemed to be pretty false. Waving that off for the moment, she just turned and took off again, knowing she had little time to waste since her daughter could be in big trouble after all the hours that had passed.

Probably another hour more passed before the jade core on Jaeden’s chest suddenly pulsated, a faint ring sounding from it. This was quite different from the usual signals she received, so Jaeden stopped, looking around rather cautiously. “Who’s there?” she demanded, not about to be snuck up on if that was what was happening.

No answer came. Or, at least no real answer, but she certainly felt it. A chill ran down her spine as she got the message, the desperation in the plea for help almost overwhelming her. She looked around, trying to find the source, yet she saw nothing no matter how much she could still feel the message. Though she needed to get to her daughter, Jaeden felt this calling for her to help someone else for the Jumi trying to reach her was even more urgent. She nodded, her hand slowly covering her core. “Don’t worry. I’ll help her. You have my word.”

As the feeling began to die, Jaeden quickly tossed her head about, trying to find the nearest energy signal. She could feel something very strong, almost familiar, not too far from there, so she immediately headed in that direction. She happened upon a dark haired woman falling to the ground; Jaeden’s eyes went wide. “Mother?!” she said in surprise, easily lifting the woman so that she could get a better look. The cold, deep blue eyes that she saw immediately confirmed her suspicions; she could see there was quite a bit of difference in the demeanor, but this was definitely her. “It is you! Thank goodness… I knew I would start finding everyone soon!” Jaeden continued excitedly, hugging her mother tightly.

Amaryllis did not move, just staring at Jaeden as though she was not even there. “…Jaeden…” she finally acknowledged, though that was all. Jaeden was about to say something, but suddenly, Amaryllis started, pushing on her daughter to try to break free. “No, get away!” Amaryllis shouted at her.

Of course, Jaeden was completely stunned. She had no idea what was going on; maybe her mother just did not know it was her, she finally decided. Though hurt a little, looking at her mother’s disheveled appearance made her calm enough to not get too upset. Amaryllis had been through something, so she had a right to be a little odd. “What’s wrong, Mother?” Jaeden tried, hoping to help her as soon as possible. She owed her mother that much.

“H-how are you here…?” Amaryllis replied, looking around a little frantically for any sign of danger. When she saw none, she seemed to relax a little, but it was obvious at least to Jaeden that her mother was nowhere near ‘relaxed.’

That, however, calmed Jaeden enough, since at least her mother seemed more reasonable now. “A Jumi nearby contacted me with his core. He said ‘someone I love very much needs help, so please, help her since I am no longer capable of doing so.’ I was looking for another Jumi, but I seem to have found you,” Jaeden answered, looking pretty curious. She knew it was not her father, so another Jumi wanting her to find her mother was very weird.

Before she could ask anything, though, Amaryllis pulled her to her, bursting into tears. Jaeden was almost horrified at that since she had never seen her mother act that way; sure, she had cried, but she had never just started sobbing as far as she knew. She shakily tried to hold her mother to be some sort of comfort, only then realizing what was wrong. “Oh! No, don’t worry. It wasn’t Father, I know that much. I would have known if it was him. Besides, I’ve been tracking rumors since everyone speaks of him, and he seems to be very much alive,” Jaeden assured her, hoping that would calm her. Well, at least she was glad she managed to understand her mother’s crying.

Amaryllis did not seem to calm down any. She just kept holding Jaeden tightly and crying, taking a while before she finally could manage an answer. “Dian… But his body is gone, so that is impossible,” she explained, talking so weakly that Jaeden almost had a hard time making out the words.

“Dian? Who is that? And he must have gone to great lengths to contact me about you if his body is gone…” Jaeden replied back, slowly lifting her mother’s arm off of her while she spoke. She took a good look at her mother, almost scared by her appearance since it just was not what she was used to seeing. “What happened to you? You never let your skin get this scratched up and bruised before. Your hair is still a mess, too, and the mending you’ve done to this dress is horrible,” she chastised, though she was not doing it to be rude.

When Amaryllis did not answer her, Jaeden sighed. She glanced back the way she came, deciding she was going to have to do something since her mother seemed a little incapable at the moment. Besides, she was a Knight, and she knew her mother was used to Elazul’s Knightly treatment, so it seemed to make sense to her. “There’s a town a little ways back, so we’ll go there and I’ll help you get all cleaned up. Come on.”

She tried waiting on a response, but when Amaryllis said something she could not make out, Jaeden decided not to wait any longer. She easily hoisted her mother up, pulling one of her arms around her shoulder to support her. “Are you bleeding, or are those stains someone else’s?” Jaeden asked when she noticed all the blood down her mother’s front, nodding after Amaryllis gave a gentle shake of her head. “Just wondering.” She could easily see her mother had no intention of telling her what had happened just yet, so Jaeden started leading her off instead of badgering her. She could do that later.

* * *

“No, he’s-!” Crystal started to shout, but she seemed too startled by the fact that she had raised her voice to continue. She shook her head to the guard she was talking to, glaring a little before running off, back out to the battlefield. She had been separated from the man she ran into earlier that day, and now she just wanted to find him, but nobody would help her. The only answers anyone would give her were not really answers: “he’s probably dead” or “mind your own business, little girl.”

Needless to say, she was frustrated. She had been right there with him before some of the cavalry forced them to move away from one another, and she was sure he kept fighting after that. Even though she had no clue what his cause was or the other’s side, for that matter, she had been willing to stand and battle with him to keep him safe since he seemed to be noble enough when he tried to protect her. “Sir!” she called out now, realizing she did not even know the man’s name.

Her core suddenly pulsed a little, though she was not sure why. She felt a chill for a moment, though the feeling quickly went away. She was a little confused by it, but she assumed it meant something was wrong, and she just tried to run faster to look for the knight. The battlefield was still littered with bodies of both the living and dead, so it was quite troublesome to try to find anyone.

Crystal’s determination, however, eventually did pay off, and she soon spotted the man she wanted. When she did not see him moving, she looked a bit afraid, but she forced herself near and at least managed to lift his head into her lap. “Are you all right?” she asked, her eyes shifting all over his body to see the injuries he had attained. Some of his armor was practically shredded, and she saw blood, so of course she was very worried. The only reason she even recognized him was because his eyes were an odd purple color she knew was not common for humans.

The knight at first seemed to ignore her, but it just took him that long to realize she was there. “Oh, it’s the little girl…” he said in a bit of amazement, smiling up at her. “You’re okay? No injuries?” he questioned, smiling a bit more when she shook her head. “That’s good.”

She did not seem as calm as he did. “What about you, Sir? Tell me how to help you!” she pleaded, not wanting him to die on her. He chuckled and seemed to pass out then, which scared Crystal more. “Sir?” she tried once more, slightly relieved when he opened his eyes again.

“I’m all right. Just got scraped up a little, and I’m pretty tired,” he explained, closing his eyes again. “Oh yeah. My name is Luther Cole… You don’t have to keep calling me ‘Sir.’ I’m not that old.”

Crystal just continued to look over his injuries, but she had to smile a little at his last comment. “If you can joke, then I guess you’re okay,” she said, which made him chuckle a bit. “You can call me Crystal,” she added after a moment, leaving her last name out since she was sure everyone knew her family and she did not want that attention.

“That’s a lovely name, Crystal,” he told her. Luther then tried to sit up, and when Crystal figured out what he was doing, she immediately helped him. The two would eventually get to their feet, and Crystal did her best to support him. “Let’s go to my regiment’s camp. It’s not too far from here if you go north,” he told her, leaning in the direction he wanted to go. Crystal just nodded, helping him along to the camp.

* * *

When Jaeden found the inn again, she rented a room for the night. She had her mother in the bath as soon as she could lock the door, determined to at least fix her appearance. As she scrubbed to get all the dirt and blood off of her mother, she soon noticed quite a bit of semen, so Jaeden easily pieced together what had happened. She kept silent about it, though, glossing over that and all the cuts and bruises since she figured her mother did not want to discuss it. Amaryllis’s silence easily pointed that out to her.

Once Jaeden had her cleaned up the best she could, she helped her mother out and to one of the beds. Amaryllis tried to get dressed, but Jaeden just made her wait, instead climbing up behind her and combing out her mother’s hair carefully before putting it back how she usually wore it. Jaeden was a bit disheartened that her mother simply sat there without a word the entire time, but she just kept taking care of her anyway. “Take a nap if you want to, Mother. I’m going to go wash your clothes and I’ll mend them, too, okay?” she said to her, gently hugging her mother from behind before she stood once again.

Amaryllis just watched her, giving a small nod before she fell back onto the bed, just staring up at the ceiling. Jaeden almost said something, but she still thought she knew better, excusing herself and going to wash the clothes as she said she would.

When she returned, she noticed her mother had not moved, and it remained the same the entire time Jaeden was removing stitches that apparently had been done in a hurry to her mother’s dress. It was not until she was about halfway through with the sewing that Amaryllis said anything. “Why?” she asked softly, the back of her hand hitting her forehead.

Jaeden blinked, a little confused by that. “Why what? You’re my mother,” she finally asked, not sure what answer was better than that, though she had to admit she was not sure what she was answering. She just shook her head, glancing back down at the sewing to make sure she did it right. Amaryllis always looked nearly perfect, and Jaeden was not going to make a mistake because that look for her mother gave her quite a bit of confidence.

“You should not be here,” Amaryllis answered, closing her eyes. “You need to stay away from me.”

Jaeden looked up, scoffing at that since it did not make any sense to her. “You never stayed away from me when I wanted you to,” she argued, though she had to smile a little at it. “And I never really thanked you for it, either,” she added after a moment. It was true; she had told her mother to leave her alone and to go away so often, but Amaryllis never did. She had helped her through a lot because of that, since even if it was what Jaeden thought she wanted, what she really wanted was someone there. She just assumed the same was true for her mother.

Amaryllis did seem to understand what she meant. “You did not understand what you were saying when you told us that. You had no grasp on the situation and you were just upset. We would have hurt you worse if we left you alone,” Amaryllis explained.

No matter what her mother thought, though, Jaeden was sure she was right this time; Jaeden knew she had a better state of mind than Amaryllis, so she was going to assume she could think properly. “Right. So why should I leave you now? I’ll help you recover if I stay instead of leaving you. Judging from how I found you, you aren’t capable of being by yourself, anyway,” she said, finishing up knotting the seam before setting her needle and thread aside. “Here,” she said, tossing the dress to her mother to try to make her do something.

“But I need to be by myself. You cannot understand because you are too young,” Amaryllis responded, though she did sit up and start to dress herself. The outfit had been mended rather skillfully, so Jaeden had definitely been paying attention to everything her father taught her.

Jaeden had to glare a little at that. She really did not believe it was fair at all, and it was all she could do to not sound as angry as she felt about it. “I’m old enough, and I’ve been through enough. If you want to use that to your advantage, then remember, I went through the same things, only I was too young then to understand how to handle them. You should know how, and I’m sorry it happened, but you can deal with it.” She knew that was harsh, but it had to be true. Her mother could handle anything.

Amaryllis looked away again, crawling back into the bed. “I apologize. I did not mean to bring up memories you would rather forget,” she said, curling up in the bed. It was obvious Jaeden had upset her by that.

She knew it; Jaeden’s look softened again, and she shook her head, not going to let her memories bother her. The only thing that did bother her now was that her strong mother was acting so very pitiful. Jaeden stood up, walking over to the bed, and she gently slid onto it. Her arms wrapped around her mother, and she held her close to try to be as much comfort as she could. “You’re frightened, aren’t you, Mother? I’ve never seen you like this. You could hold back all your pain when Father died all those times, but why not now?” She could not look past that–how was she supposed to be strong if her mother could not be that way?

Amaryllis did not answer her, instead starting to cry once again. “Jaeden, it’s not the same. I’m not that strong. I tried. But how can you expect me to believe like I used to after all this? Elazul isn’t here…”

Tears were coming to Jaeden’s eyes, but she did her best not to show it. She could not admit her mother was not strong, and she did not want her mother to say that. And because of her father? Lucas was not there for her, but she had to keep going. Amaryllis taught her that, but now she was going back on it? “You are. You are the strongest person in this world, both in power and mentality. I’ve always tried to be like Father, but I’ve also always tried to be just like you. Don’t tell me I was trying to be something that didn’t actually exist,” she pleaded, hoping to change her mind.

“But that isn’t who I am anymore!” Amaryllis yelled at her. She drew her hands up to the back of her head, elbows extending to cover her face completely. “I called so many times and he wouldn’t come! I needed him, and he wasn’t there. Nobody was…” she trailed off, her sobs drowning out the rest of her words.

It took everything for Jaeden to not cry at that moment. She knew she could not do it when her mother needed her to be strong, though she wished it could be the other way around. She hugged her mother tighter, not sure of what else to do. “I’m really sorry, Mother,” she managed, her voice breaking a bit. “And I’m sure Father is, too. But I’m here now, and we’ll go find him. We’ll find everyone, and everything will be okay again. You’ll see, I promise. Just believe me…”

Amaryllis shook her head. “I can’t. I cannot go with you. I don’t want you to die, too. If you died, Jaeden, it would kill me, not just because you’re my daughter, but because you are my daughter. I lost people that were dear to me, but losing you…”

“Don’t think about that,” Jaeden said a little angrily, not liking the insinuation that she was going to die. “Don’t even think that I would allow myself to die. I can’t. I have too much here to do. I have to find my children. I understand why you wouldn’t let yourself cry when Father died; you saw what happened to Lucas. He can’t find them, so I have to. And I will. I have to,” she assured her mother, not going to die when she had such an important thing to do.

Amaryllis winced at that. “I’m sorry, Jaeden. Lucas-”

“Lucas isn’t here. But Father is. You just have to find him again. And you have to keep believing in him, because you’re the one person that he needs to believe in him. You know how much I love Father, but he needs you, not me. You’ve heard all of this before. You’ve told me most of this before. How am I supposed to believe it if you won’t?” She rested her head against her mother’s back, hoping she was getting through. Please… I need you to show me how to stay strong. Please don’t do this…

“I needed Elazul, too,” Amaryllis answered, sounding almost cold with the response.

Jaeden knew she was upset, but that was something she never expected her mother to say. It hurt her a little, and it even made her a bit angry. She knew her father did not deserve that kind of comment, but she had to just understand it for now. “Father would never let anything happen to you if he could prevent it. You can’t blame him. And if you need him so badly, let’s go get him. Don’t just sit here and mope because that’s not going to help. If you’re not willing to do anything, then how can you expect him to be? We need to-”

“Jaeden, stop! Stop it!” Amaryllis shouted at her, pulling away and covering her head even more. “You can’t understand it. You won’t. I can’t face your father now. I can’t face anyone. Just stop it and leave me alone…”

Slipping out of the bed as quickly as she could, Jaeden just stood next to it, looking very distraught from all she had heard. She felt that way, too, after hearing such negative remarks from the person that never gave up on anything. “Mother, don’t tell me that. I wanna help you. Everything can be okay if you’ll just come with me.”

“No!” Amaryllis nearly screamed, not listening at all to Jaeden. “Just go away! You can’t help me. I am nothing but a lost cause, so just leave! You’ll be better off that way!”

Jaeden gasped, still staring at her mother since she was no longer as confident in her beliefs of what should be done. It killed her to hear all that. What was left for her if even her mother could not take it? “Mother, I-” she began, but she stopped when she felt tears dripping down her cheeks. No, she could not afford to be upset when people needed her. “How could you do this? How can you be the mother that I-…?” She could not finish that; Jaeden was too upset to continue. She clenched her fists tightly and immediately ran out of the room, trying to avoid yelling at her mother even more.

She nearly raced out of the room, the door slamming behind her. It took her less than a minute to be out of the city, alone, and she just leaned up against a tree and tried to stop her tears. “Mother… I’m sorry. I can’t-” she said, though she was obviously only talking to herself.

Quickly Jaeden tried to wipe the tears away, not going to allow herself to act like this. “I have to find everyone. I can’t give up on them like that. I won’t let you destroy everything you and Father helped me to be,” she decided, just doing her best to stop feeling what she was for the moment. “They need me.”

* * *

Crystal had helped strip Luther’s armor off, and that was when she realized he really was telling her the truth. The armor had been cutting into his skin to continually irritate the wounds, so of course they would not stop bleeding with that happening. She just smiled as she bandaged him up, kind of enjoying it since she could use some of the things her mother had taught her.

Luther just watched her since she had insisted on doing it, rather impressed with her work anyway because he had not believed many children, let alone girls, knew how to do that. The fact that he had a little girl helping him got him many looks, but he just gave a goofy smile to all the men that looked that way. “They’re jealous. You’re pretty cute acting like a nurse like that,” he commented, a lot more laid back now that they were off the battlefield.

She blushed a little, sitting up straight and looking around since she had not realized how many stares she was getting. “I, uh…” she stammered, but since she didn’t know what to do, she just pulled her mother’s jacket around her tighter as though she could hide the fact that she was even there. Like mother, like daughter, after all. If not for Crystal keeping her hair so long, she could have easily been shown to imitate her mother precisely when she was that age. The fact that she wore her mother’s old clothing with just slight modifications was enough to show that.

He smiled, gently placing his hand on her head when he saw he had embarrassed her. “Don’t worry about them. Or me, for that matter. I’m a happily married man. Got a kid on the way and everything,” he explained, figuring she was tugging on her clothes like that to hide the fact that she was a girl.

“You are? Is it a girl or a boy?” she asked, suddenly forgetting about any sort of hiding since that was an interesting topic for her.

To that he could not help but laugh. “I don’t know yet. Won’t know ‘til I can hold him or her in my arms. You must be pretty young to think otherwise. How old are you? Ten? Twelve, maybe?” he asked, judging based on her appearance since she was pretty little.

Crystal frowned, shaking her head. “I’m seventeen,” she said sternly, not wanting him to think of her as a child since she was perfectly capable.

He whistled. “Whoa, seventeen? Wow, I could have sworn you were younger,” he said, quickly apologizing since he knew that was probably insulting to her. “I guess it’s just how cute you are that does it. I haven’t seen anyone your age with such pale skin and light blond hair like yours. It’s usually pretty dull by now. And your eyes are so vibrant. I didn’t realize anyone could even have that color eyes,” he explained, though, believe it or not, he was not trying to flatter her. He just wanted to make her see that he had not intended to insult her.

She looked away, not really wanting to answer that since she doubted an army would be too friendly with a Jumi girl. At least her outfit concealed her core rather well, so long as she kept the jacket close. “Your eyes are purple. That’s not normal, either,” she finally decided, hoping to steer him away from hers since she doubted he wanted to explain something like that, too.

“Oh yeah,” he muttered, raising a finger to his eyelids as though to acknowledge it, but he looked more thoughtful than anything. “My father told me that his mother got involved with some sort of demon. This trait was passed down to me since it’s a pretty prominent thing. He said it was some sort of blessing so that we’ll always be protected with the stronger powers of the demons, but the townspeople always said something about it being a curse,” he concluded, shrugging. “I don’t really care. Hasn’t hurt me one way or another. Could be just a myth and we’re just weird, too,” he added with a smirk.

Crystal nodded, and before she knew it, he had her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. “I told you about my eyes. At least tell me why yours are that rose color,” he pressed, staring pretty intently at her.

She blushed quite a bit, still trying to look away, but she finally decided to share. “Okay,” she said softly, waiting on him to let go of her. When he did, she wrestled with the clasps of her jacket for a moment, undoing it just enough to show him the quartz core. “I’m Jumi. My father and grandmother are Human, though,” she told him, adding the last part since she could relate to him. Once she figured he had a good enough look, she fastened the jacket back up, still upset about what had happened to her earlier that day to where she needed to stay as bundled as possible.

Luther seemed pretty surprised by that, still staring a little when she was covered up completely again. “I guess that explains the looks,” he said, though he realized that was pretty stupid when he was done saying it. “Some of the guys here talked about the Jumi women they encountered and how good they looked and how good they were at-” Quickly he brought his hand to his mouth, his cheeks flushed a little since he knew how inappropriate that was.

“Oh, hey, it’s late! We should sleep. Doing another sweep tomorrow, which brings us even closer to getting home,” he said, changing the subject so suddenly so that she would not be angry with him. “I’d kill to see Anemone right now, but I can wait for a week!” He tried to just lie down where he was, figuring that was as good a spot as any.

Crystal was actually shaking a little from the comment he made earlier, almost completely ignoring his change of subject. Instead, she was looking all around at the men, wondering what was going to happen to her now that she had seen that someone would actually do something like that. She was suddenly not wanting to be there any longer.

He sighed, realizing he had upset her, and he knew he had to do something. “Hey, Crystal?” he said, waiting on her to look at him before he put his arm around her, pulling her down to the ground. Her back was to his front, and he just held her close, doing his best to not make it too awkward. “Look, now nobody’s going to get you, okay? I won’t let them,” he assured her, hoping that was good enough.

She was certainly startled and almost wanted to run, but then again, she knew she would probably be worse off on her own. “I… Okay,” she agreed, not really wanting to be alone anyway. She was not tired, but she closed her eyes, actually able to relax a bit that way. It kind of reminded her of how close she and Cris were, though now she missed him terribly because of that. Where are you…?

* * *

A day or two had passed; Jaeden lost count. She just wanted to be as far away from her mother as possible, but then, she remembered her daughter’s cry for help. Immediately she changed her focus, speeding through towns to search for clues. She was approaching many battlefields, though, some restless towns and cities not satisfied with what they had or what condition they were in, so they were out fighting to better themselves. Normally she would not care, but she felt she was getting closer, which meant her daughter could be caught up in the wars. That was something she definitely did not want. Crystal–no, all the children being involved in the last war was too much as it was.

“I’m coming…” she said softly, sure she had to be close after the nonstop running. She did not even remember the last time she had eaten or slept, but it did not matter. The hardened look on her face showed just how determined she was to find her family once more.

* * *

In all that time, Crystal had explained her situation to him, telling him quite a bit about herself in the process while leaving out who she and her family really were. She did tell him she was expecting her mother or one of her brothers to come for her, and he would have even learned of her father’s death. Being the knight that he was, he vowed to help her find her family once he returned home, but that was all he could do for now. Crystal could not have asked for more, though.

Gradually most of the other members of the regiment had learned Crystal’s name and had grown to be rather fond of her, too, since she was obviously easy on the eyes and very helpful. She did not talk to anyone or share any secrets with the others like she did Luther, but she exchanged a few words here and there and dressed wounds if someone asked. At least she felt accepted enough to calm down and not worry much. Very few gave her any looks she did not like, and those that did just got glares from the other men that were enamored with her.

The past few days of fighting had been rather tame, so Crystal and Luther had no issues with the fighting. Luther’s group actually seemed to greatly outdo the other side, and Crystal just had to wonder about it since it did not make any sense to her. She still helped out in the battles, of course, though she was acting more defensively than offensively, a bit too afraid to kill even though she did not admit that. She just did not feel comfortable killing no matter how serious she was about fighting, and every time she thought about it, she just remembered the person that had attacked her. She even felt bad about that killing; it just did not feel right to her.

Luther seemed to understand that, and he did not force her into anything. If he had been a hundred percent sure that she would be safe in the camp on her own, he would not have even brought her to the battlefield. He could easily see how capable she was, but she was still a child no matter how much she argued otherwise. She was scared, so he was helping her by keeping her close.

Unfortunately, the calm warfare did not last. Crystal’s suspicions had been right; the numbers were skewed purposely, and this final day a surprise attack from the enemy was unleashed. Many of Luther’s group were killed because of it, and more were wounded. Crystal found herself having to kill after all to save Luther and some of the other people that had been kind to her; she was very upset by it, but she was even more upset at the thought of losing them when she could do something about it.

Crystal’s barrage of knives and accompanying bodies brought enemy attention to her. Before she knew it, she had become the target of all the attacks, so she really had to work hard to keep herself alive. Luther and the other men helped, of course, but not all of them were fond enough of her to risk their lives. When Crystal actually got hit from one of the attacks, she cried out, and along with that her power surged. It did not take long for the enemy to call a retreat, and Luther’s regiment decided that was a good idea, too.

When they returned to camp, Crystal was very upset; her mother’s jacket had been ripped by the nasty sword slash she had received on her shoulder. Luther almost laughed at her for it since he thought she should be more concerned about the wound she showed zero interest in, but when he realized how serious she was, he offered to mend it for her. It took him a while to convince her, but he soon had her jacket off and was fixing it. “We all would have died out there without you,” he said to her, hoping she was proud since she deserved it.

She felt naked without her jacket, holding her arms around her despite the fact that she still had plenty of clothes on underneath. Her light gray shirt was cut low enough to reveal her core, though, and that was just a bit too low for her without the jacket over it as well. Crystal even acted embarrassed about her legs despite the tights that covered them, pulling them under her and trying to cover them with her skirt to no avail.

Luther was easily distracted by her actions, smirking since he thought it was cute. “You know, you really have nothing to hide with this thing. Or, I mean, you shouldn’t be hiding anything,” he said, quickly saving himself since he realized what he said. “You’re attractive with this jacket on, don’t get me wrong, but, well, wow.”

Crystal laughed nervously, trying even harder to cover herself now after that. “My looks don’t really matter,” she stammered, too embarrassed by his comment to talk straight. “I’m not trying to hide them, either. I just… It’s more comfortable with that jacket, is all,” she tried, not wanting to explain too much more. That was partially true: she did not always try to hide her looks, since at home, she wore a simple white dress, but now that she was with so many different people, she just felt more comfortable doing that.

He shrugged, though, still not getting it. “I bet my wife would tell you the same thing, and she’s a woman. She’s gorgeous and knows she can’t hide it if she tried, just like you, so she accepts it. You should do that, too. Then maybe you’d get a husband as handsome as me,” Luther joked, even laughing at his own joke since he’s good natured like that.

“Please don’t say that,” Crystal asked of him, just wanting him to stop since it was not the appropriate area of discussion. “You-”

Before she could continue, a man suddenly jerked her up off the ground, holding her by the back of her shirt. “Hey, girl, you never told us you were a Jumi. One of Elazul’s spawn, no less,” the man said angrily, not letting Crystal down no matter how much she struggled.

Luther started, but he realized there were other men around them, so he could not attack. “Put her down, Aaron. She’s helped us out, so there’s no reason to turn on her. And what’s with the Elazul crap? That’s not true. She said her father was a human,” he argued, hoping to help free Crystal.

“Are you that much of a moron, Cole? Her father might be human, but obviously her mother’s not if she’s a Jumi. We got a little tip from some of our prisoners. Her mother’s Jaeden, the little prodigy child of Elazul. When they figured out who she was, of course they’d go after her. Anyone would! You know how valuable this kid is? Or how much danger we’ve got in keeping her around just to be nice?” Aaron replied, tossing Crystal at some of the other men.

She shouted, but they caught her, two men grabbing at her arms. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble. I was only trying to help,” she tried, pretty upset by this since she never thought it would happen.

Aaron scoffed. “Your help just made us lose a bunch of friends. We really could have done without it.”

Though he looked confused, Luther shook his head. “No, we can’t blame her for our carelessness. She saved us. We were the ones that got overconfident and weren’t paying attention to their attack patterns. Just because you’re pissed at how stupid you were doesn’t mean you should take it out on her,” he decided, standing up now to walk toward Crystal. “Let go of her, guys,” he ordered.

All that managed to do was get him a punch in the face. While it did not hurt him too bad, Crystal cried out for him anyway. “Don’t hurt him. Please,” Crystal tried, wanting to reason this out since some of these people she liked, so she did not want to have to fight them.

“We’re not going to. Cole’s our comrade,” Aaron answered, and as he finished speaking, some of the other men helped Luther up almost forcefully, holding him since they figured he would continue to fight for Crystal. “You aren’t, though. All you’re doing is putting us in a bad position. It’s what you Jumi always do. So, we can kill you now,” he said, though that got him some looks, to which he nodded, “or you can ‘convince’ us to let you go.”

When he saw how scared Crystal looked at that comment, Luther got angry very fast. “That’s bullshit! Just let her go!” he called, struggling to get to her to no avail.

“Quiet!” Aaron yelled at him, glaring quite a bit. “You’ve been bewitched by this Jumi, so we’re willing to forgive you if you just let us dispose of her. Remember your wife? Remember your unborn child? Don’t you see what she’s done to you? That was all you talked about until this girl came along. We’re going to help you, so shut up.” Once Aaron finished scolding Luther, he made his way over to Crystal, raising her chin so that she had to look at him. “Though, I can see why she managed to steal your heart. She’s exceptionally beautiful, even for a Jumi.”

Crystal glared at that, still terrified, but at least she was getting annoyed along with it. “Leave me alone. I didn’t do anything to you,” she said as calmly as she could, hoping that if she didn’t seem afraid, they would lose interest in her or think she might hurt them.

All that got her were a few laughs, especially from Aaron. “She shows her true colors, now. See, Cole, it was all an act. That scared little girl never existed. Jumi don’t have hearts. They have these cores that are as cold as ice,” he explained, putting a hand on Crystal’s core and stroking it a little. He smirked when she shivered. “It doesn’t matter what we do with them. They’re here for looks, fighting, money, and sex, and they really don’t have any other use.”

Aaron then leaned down to start kissing Crystal’s neck, his hands shifting to her breasts now. However, Crystal did not like that much; she cried out, struggling again to get free. Luther called out for her and tried to get free, himself, but before he could do anything, he watched in horror as Aaron fell to the ground. The man’s back was filled with slashes and deep wounds, some actually bubbling from what seemed to be explosions.

“Let go of my daughter now,” Jaeden said, standing behind the two men holding Crystal. She had a dagger to each man’s throat, and she was fully prepared to use them. However, they complied, dropping the girl to the floor.

Crystal just seemed stunned when she looked up at her mother, but she immediately latched on to her anyway. Jaeden gently placed an arm around her for a moment, but she was more preoccupied with watching the other men. When she saw they were holding Luther, she just raised one of her daggers to point at him. “Let him go, too,” she decided, easily able to figure out they were holding him because of Crystal.

Luther was freed, then, and though he hesitated, he tried moving over toward Crystal once more. She let go of her mother to get closer to him, but he stopped her by holding out her jacket. “Here. Sorry you got into so much trouble. I’m glad your mother’s here for you now,” he said, almost being brief.

She did not seem to like that much, looking a little upset by it. “Thank you,” Crystal said softly, dressing in her jacket once more. When she was done, she hugged Luther, and though he seemed surprised by it, he gently returned it.

When she was done with that, Crystal just scampered back over to her mother. Jaeden nodded to Luther as thanks, but she said nothing, just picking up Crystal and taking off with her, going to get as far away as possible.

* * *

Jaeden waited until they were far enough away from anything and everything to stop, gently setting Crystal down on the ground. “Are you all right?” she finally asked, though rather than stopping for good, she started walking off again in the direction she assumed was toward their home.

Crystal seemed to believe they were going to have a moment to stop, so she had to hurry after her mother when she realized she was walking again. “I’m okay…” she answered weakly, not wanting her mother to worry about her since by how angry Jaeden still looked, she was upset about something. It was odd to Crystal, too, since by the time she and Cris had been born, Jaeden had softened up significantly and rarely got angry like that.

As well as Crystal could read her, Jaeden could do the same. “Don’t lie to me. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what happened,” she persisted, cocking her head back a bit to look at Crystal. “Are you going to tell me, or do I have to figure it out on my own?”

To that Crystal flinched, stopping immediately. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she answered, which made Jaeden stop and turn around to face her. “Here.” Crystal reached out for her mother’s hand, pulling it over her core. It rang as she sent the memories of past week or so to her, and when she finished, Crystal immediately tried to pull away again.

Jaeden did not let her; she pulled Crystal to her, instead, cradling her a little in her arms. “I’m sorry. I came as soon as I could,” she assured her. Though her face had hardened into a rather stoic expression, Jaeden did feel upset that her daughter had to experience all of that.

Crystal suddenly realized where she was: in her mother’s arms after she nearly got raped, after she killed people for the first time, after she finally had to really fight for her life. Not only that, but after she saw friends betray her, after family–her own father, and possibly her brother–were killed, and after she saw how wrong she was about her family being invincible. After everything was completely different and backward from what she knew. After all that, she could not help but just break down right then. She held her mother tightly and whined a little, ‘crying’ the only real way she could.

Jaeden was not sure of what to do other than to hold her. Or, that was not true. She was more afraid to actually try since she had pushed her mother away by trying, so she had to be careful about what she did with her own daughter. “…We’re going to go home. I’ll find Cris, and I’ll find Tyler. I’ll go get Lucas back, too. You don’t have to worry about anything anymore,” she finally decided to try.

Though Crystal still looked very upset, she tried to nod, just holding her mother even more if possible. Jaeden sighed softly, gently lifting Crystal once more since she could tell Crystal was not going to let go. She just hopped up into the air, flying off toward their home, wanting to get there as soon as possible. She had a promise to keep.