Adalia left the building pleased, I left kinda perturbed. Knowing what I knew about not knowing about what Amanda knew tends to do that to my mental state.

Didn't feel like standing around twiddling my thumbs waiting to waltz right into her grand ploy unknowing and unwitting, so I decided that the next course of action most wise and most logical was to find this princess of mischief and find her fast otherwise face the pins and needles of uneasy worry.

It'd be a much easier undertaking if only I knew where the hell she actually was. I texted her again, inquiring just that… take a guess how well that endeavor went.

But really, why am I struggling at all? I had magic, didn't I? I close my eyes, take a deep breath… and I can accurately pinpoint both latitude and longitude of her location down to the bare inches just by sensing Ash's presence alone.

If only, right? If only I didn't have to risk death every time I wanna do something cool. If I was in a show, I'd be the worst main character ever just by ability alone. Maybe I'd be better in the role of that one-off villain in a filler episode that dies at the end of it… yeah, that seems more my thing.

Sighing, aimlessly wandering, I looked to my equally aimless companion. "Hey, Adalia. How good is your sensing?"

It took a long while to get an answer out of her. With that red gem in her hands, nothing else just seems to matter. Including me. Eventually, she did come back down to earth after a few finger snaps, flinching, blinking dazed, and blinking slow.

"Sen...sing…?" She tore her gaze away from the shimmer of red, turning towards me. "It's… better… at night…"

"And if I ask if you could help me sense where Ash was, what'd you say to that?"

Her head slowly slanted downwards, and that told me everything I needed to know about the limitations of a vampire's perception. Huge crowds and loud noises in the burning daylight does not a vigilant vampire make.

"It's alright," I assured her, scanning every person in every gathering that we strolled past. "A Princess and an Elf-Knight together can't be a common sight around here. We'll find them soon enough."

"My sister… could have…"

I snorted, squinting left at an Elf-look alike. "Mmm, wasn't asking your sister."

"I... know…" She said. "Just letting… you… know…"

We continued drifting from place to place, encountering enough assortment of creatures of every race and type to make even Tolkien blush. Must have winded down the alley and streets of half the town before we had to call it quits.

Adalia was starting to wince again.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Fine…" or so she says… keeping her expression a closed book padlocked and keyless. Luckily, or unluckily, pain wasn't something you could just seal away behind under lock and key.

I led us somewhere secluded, somewhere quiet… the outskirts of town under the rustling branches of a tree. I took a seat on one side, and the moment I offered a place right next to me - her unfeeling mask finally shattered, and all the discomfort came gushing through the cracks like a tidal wave with one sharp quivering breath.

Hugging her knees, and eyes firmly shut… she was like a turtle retreating into her shell for safety and comfort. It kinda stings seeing her like that.

"You know, if you're hurting, Adalia… you don't have to push yourself. If you need my arm or something, I'm more than happy to oblige."

"I… I know…" She leaned into her knees, her already quiet voice stifled even more. "I just… don't want you… to always worry… over me…"

"Well, I kinda have to," I told her. "So long as the sun's out and shining. It's the bane of all vampire's endurance, am I right?"

"Not… all vampires…" Her eyes peeked out slightly, glancing left towards me. "Only… me…"

"Oh," I met her glance, saw something stirring behind it, but didn't know what just yet. "Difference being?"

"I'm more… sensitive…" She said between wavering breaths. "I'm not… supposed to be… this way..."

Not supposed to be.

Spoken in that same tone of casual emptiness. Unbothered, unfeeling. But I realized that it was just another mask too… just bolted even tighter.

Sangumet, huh?

"You're defective."

She didn't move, she didn't speak… just silently stared back at me, my eyes in her clouded hues.

"Twin vampires," I narrowed my lips. "So, is it usually the older twin that gets it, or…?"

"Yes…" Adalia steadied her breath. "Amelia was second…"

"How did you…?" I flailed a hand, feeling tense with her stare. "Well, how did you cope?"

"When young… vampires do not feast… on the blood of humans," She explained, opening a closed fist and at once, the glitter of stark red shone on her pale face. "Our mother provided… small creatures… birds… until we grew our fangs…"

"And that's when the problem arose?"

She nodded. "Our bodies… needed stronger sustenance… but I… couldn't eat. I didn't want to… I don't want to… I hate the smell… the taste… but I still kept craving… I starve… for months…. and my body… abilities... couldn't properly develop… because of it..."

Ah, so that's where the 'not supposed to be' comes in. Sensitivity to the sun, not as keen a sense as her sister's, it all stemmed from here… this one fatal flaw from birth she could do absolutely nothing about.

"Where was your mother in all this?"

"Dead…" She said bluntly, suddenly. "Our mother… did everything she could… to keep me alive… she hoped… there was someone's blood… I could feast on… without pain…"

I listened, the crowds in the distance just seemed to fade, suddenly everything felt so quiet, so stagnant.

"She was desperate… she caused too many… problems… took too many people away… she was hunted… then… she was killed..."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't… be…" Her voice softly assured. "It's… so long ago… I don't… remember much… anymore…"

Think that's even worse…

"My sister… took care of me… after our mother's… death… providing… protecting… searching for a way… to save me..." That's when I heard it, a little bitterness tinging her tone, a touch, a pinch, sadness forming cracks. "If not for her… I wouldn't be here. Amelia is amazing… she can do… anything… everything… and I'm always troubling her… worrying her… she doesn't deserve… that..."

"Come on, don't say that," I said, my voice just as soft. "She's doing it cause she wants to, she loves you."

"I… know…" Adalia said, a little edge in her voice. "And that's what… I hate most… about it…"

"What do you mean? What's there to hate about it?"

"Many… many things…" She closed her fist, the red glimmer gone. "How… she doesn't get upset… angry… how… she doesn't scream at me… shout at me… or hate me… even when she… really should… some… times..."

She wasn't making any sense before, she still wasn't making any sense now… but her words were so senseless that they just wrapped back around into making sense somehow.

It's more than just hate there.

"Feeling guilty," I shook my head, and for some unknown reason, I was even smiling. "I suppose you wouldn't be you if you didn't."

"I know… I am… a burden…"

"Yeah."

"She shouldn't have… to put up... with me..."

"I suppose not."

"Our entire time together… years… and years… she's always so busy... trying to save my life… that I fear… that she never had the chance… to live her own…"

Now I understand. Why should pushed herself to that brink. Why she kept quiet about her discomfort. She doesn't want to do the same to me. She doesn't want my eyes on her 24/7. I can sympathize with that.

But I can't much agree with it.

"So…" My eyes drifted down, to a slender pale hand clenching tight. "That gem you got there is more than just a gift, I suppose."

"I want to do… something… nice…" Adalia unclenched it, and stared briefly at its crimson luster. "It… doesn't make up… for everything… it won't… I know… that..."

"It doesn't have to, Adalia," I said, lifting it up from her palms, holding it out over her misty eyes. "You give this to her with a 'sorry, I bothered you, sister', she'll never take it. It's better off hanging back on that plaque if that's the case."

She blinked her eyes once, meeting mine as they fluttered open. "What do... you mean…?

"Switch the roles," I told her. "Your sister's born weak, dying… and unable to fend for herself. And you, you're alright, you're healthy… and you're living. Stupid question, but what do you think you're going to do with that life of yours?"

So stupid indeed that she didn't even indulge with an answer. Her gaze spoke plenty enough already… but maybe just one more stupid question just to make sure she gets it.

"Would you like her to apologize to you too?"

She shook her head. "No… I… I wouldn't..."

"So why on earth do you think that that's what she wants to hear from you?" I asked, slightly amused by her line of thought. "Don't say you're sorry when there's nothing to apologize for."

"Then…" She sounded lost. "What do I… tell her…?"

I dropped the gem back into her open palms, folded them close, and had her fingers grip it tight. "Thank you."

Her eyes grew a little wide like it was the first time the thought had ever occurred to her. It's strange, when it came to other people, she could read the mood like an open book, but when it came to herself it's as if someone had blindfolded those astute eyes of hers.

It's quite funny, actually.

"I… see…" She raised her head, a little tinge of color returning to her white skin. "You're very… wise…"

"Am I?" I chuckled feebly. "Feels more like common sense to me."

"But not very… humble…"

Ouch. Okay.

"Never… the… less..." She held her hand to her chest, a soft look in her eyes. "I'm glad I… talked to you… about it…"

"As am I."

Then, a small smile. "Thank… you…."

That's a start.

"You're welcome."

It was a pretty tender moment just then, and since we were opening up anyway, I figured why not press more on the burning questions I had in mind that I thought before too rude to casually ask.

Starting with -

"By the way," I hissed in a breath, bracing. "The defect that you have - does it - is that why you speak that way, y'know like… like that?"

That smile slanted down. "No… not… exactly…"

Not exactly?

"I used to… talk normally… before…" She continued. "I wasn't always… like this…. my emotions… my speech… stunted. It… used to be normal…"

I honestly didn't expect that. "What changed then? What made you this way?"

And I also honestly didn't expect her response right after.

"Terestra… did…"

Even though I really should have.