Zara plopped herself down on the bed and played with one of Zelda’s loose threads. “What happened in there? I’ve never seen you react like that before.”

Zack paced around the room. “I don’t know. I think it was caused by everyone wanting to talk about those days lately. For years, I’ve been able to suppress and ignore the memories from back then. Moving on without needing to face everything that was done to us. What good would that do me? We were helpless kids.” He swallowed and turned to face the corner.

“When we got to the academy, everything changed. There have been constant reminders, the portal, the military, now Tessa and her family.” Zack started in surprise when he felt his sister wrap him in a hug from behind. “It all came to a head in there, and I couldn’t but think that he was just like them.”

Zara sniffled against his back. “I saw it too. The look in his eyes was exactly the same as theirs back then.”

“How have things been for you? I know a lot of the things that have been reminding me, didn’t involve you directly. Outside of the incident at the portal, have you been alright at the academy?”

“I didn’t want to say anything,” Was the wet, muffled response, as Zara hid her face against his back. “I knew you were having it worse, whereas I was able to mostly hide away from everything.”

Zack sighed and shook his head. “I was fine in all my lessons, learning about the portals, the monsters, how classes worked. Everything I never had a chance to learn before or had figured out on my own. They were usually interesting, and far enough removed from what we experienced that they weren’t an issue. I guess it was all just building up, regardless.”

“What are we going to do?” Zara pulled away and swiped at her eyes. “What do you want to do?”

He hesitated; the obvious answer was that they needed to learn to deal with what had happened to them. They needed to stop ignoring and running from it.

How though?

The academy had something called a psychologist on staff that was reported to help with emotional and mental trauma. That wasn’t something they could risk. The secret that he had gone through the portal as a child may have gotten out already. That was fine. They had expected it to happen. However, no one knew that Zara had also gone through. Talking to a person trained in working their way to the darkest parts of your mind seemed like the fastest way to get that exposed. Besides, who knew if they were actually allowed to talk about the specifics with regular people in any case.

“I don’t know,” He finally whispered helplessly. “I just know we can’t continue on like this.”

“Maybe we should talk to Edith when we get back? She might have some ideas that could help.” Zara offered carefully. “She has been nice to us, and already knows about your scars…” She trailed off.

Zack considered it carefully before replying. “How trustworthy do you think she is?”

“I’m not saying that we should tell her everything.” The young girl flopped back onto the bed and covered her eyes with an arm. “As for how trustworthy she is. Who can say? We both know she is hiding her own secrets; we saw that this morning when she mentioned her husband. She could just find his memory painful, or there could be more to it.”

“If there was more to it than that, why would she even mention him?” Zack questioned, leaning back and trapping her legs between him and the bed.

“Maybe it was a sign that she is beginning to trust us as well,” Zara sighed and moved her arm to stare up at the ceiling. “Or maybe we are just overthinking something simple to a stupid degree.”

“Maybe,” He agreed, unwilling to move from off her legs. “We’ll still talk to her when we get back and see how it goes. I’m fine with my secrets being revealed. That isn’t a big deal, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Would it be so bad?” She wondered aloud. “In the end, I would just be lumped into the same category as you.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about. That part would be fine. It’s the potential experiments they may run on me, and in turn you. You saw how Mathew, Tessa’s dad, was looking at me. Can you honestly say he wouldn’t try to experiment with us if he was given the chance?”

That was what he was trying to protect her from. People who wanted to turn her into a living lab experiment. He hadn’t been able to protect her the last time; he wouldn’t fail her a second time.

“I wish there was a way for them to just leave us alone,” Zara muttered angrily.

Zack thought back to the change in his ‘Life Burner’ ability. “It will happen eventually. I have no idea when, but the portals are changing things in our world as well. I’m sure the people at the top will begin to notice soon enough, if they haven't already. Little things that weren’t possible before, or that act different now. The portals have been open for over a hundred years, and the mana crystals have been mined for much of that. All that mana that gets used or released as waste has to go somewhere. I doubt it simply disappears.”

He wasn’t sure exactly what it would mean for the world, nor did he particularly care. The people of the world had done little for him and his sister. There was even a portion of himself that was looking forward to the coming chaos. They would truly be free when that happened, if it happened. Even if it did eventually, it could be years away.

They continued to talk for a while longer, bandying about ideas that grew progressively more ridiculous and implausible. It was a nice distraction from everything, helped to calm them both down.

When the knock came for dinner, they were ready to be around others again.

Ben, the chauffeur, was standing in front of the door when they opened it. In his arms was the large bear Zara had named Aisha.

“My apologies for bringing her over so late. Lady Testarosa believed it would be better for the two of you to have some uninterrupted time alone.” He passed the bear to them and stepped back. “Now, if you care to follow me, I will lead you to the dining room.”

Zara quickly placed the oversized teddy bear on the bed beside George. She grabbed Zelda and hurried back to the door.

“I thought Tessa said that you were the chauffeur?” Zack probed as they followed behind the imposing man.

“I am, but I am also a butler in training.” He explained, leading them back down to the main floor of the house.

Tessa and her mother Anna were waiting for them in the dining room. There was a long table taking up a significant portion of the room. There were only two chairs occupied at the very end, with the rest of the space being wasted.

“How are you doing?” Anna asked as they walked down the length of the room to join them.

“Better, sorry about earlier. The way he looked at me, combined with the question, was just too much.” Zack pulled out a chair for Zara, across the table from their hosts, and then sat next to her.

“I thought as much,” Anna nodded, her face impossible to read.

“Have you thought about talking to someone about everything that happened back then?” Tessa asked, watching their expressions carefully.

“We didn’t have the money for anything like that before we arrived at the academy.” He took a sip of water from the glass that had marked where they were to sit. “Now, well, I know there is someone who specializes in things of that nature at the academy. I don’t believe it matters anyway,” He shrugged, and told them the reason that had occurred to him earlier while talking it over with Zara. “Much of what happened to us involves secrets that I believe the government and military don’t want to get out. I doubt someone working for an academy, even one as prestigious as the Albion Travelers academy, would have the necessary clearance.”

A door to the side opened, and the first of many immaculately dressed servants entered with plates of food. The next half-hour or so was filled with mundane chit-chat about the school and their classes as they ate.

Anna found Quinn’s treatment of Spencer especially amusing.

It was during the dessert of melon flavored gelato that the tone of the conversation changed. Zack had taken a few spoonfuls of the cold treat for himself, enjoying the taste. Then passed the rest of the treat to Zara, who had already worked her way through the bowl she had been given.

Anna looked on, sympathy flashing briefly across her normally carefully controlled face.

Looking across the table, Zack gave them both a slight nod. “Thank you for giving us the chance to eat first. Now, why did you have us come here? The real reason if you please. I doubt you brought us here simply to ‘clarify’ some things is how I believe you put it earlier.”