"Who is this Sara to you, brother anyway? You keep talking about him…" Sitting on Aiden's left, Lily asked. A moment later, as if realization hit her, her face brightened up, a wide-stretched smile curving it upwards. "Oooooh! Could she be your… your girlf-"

"No! She is an important friend to me, to us!"

Seeing how nervously his brother responded to the question, Lily only giggled with delight, not pushing on the topic any further.

Luckily, before anything further could be said, the door to the room slowly creaked open, and Sara walked in. As soon as she closed the door behind herself, she pulled down the hood, unveiling her purple tinges for the first time for Lily to see.

"Sorry for the wait everyone." She spoke, walking with large strides towards Aiden's right.

—

She grabbed an empty seat and placed it on the youth's right, taking her place and looking as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She coughed lightly grabbing the attention of the room, before turning towards Aiden, and voicing her question.

"So, now that we are all here… Aiden, could you explain what the current situation is? You guys still haven't told me anything, just asked for me to come." Her face revealed worry and concern as she leaned closer to the golden-eyed, black-haired boy. "What is the problem, what could have happened to rile you up to such an extent?"

Even Lily left her cheeky smile behind and focused all of her attention on her brother. She could also clearly feel that something wasn't right, he was way too agitated. Even though he showcased a calm outlook overall in their fight, he could see the hurry in his eyes. He was keen to finish up this farce as fast as possible so they could get to this point as soon as possible.

When she turned to look at the prince and his sister, they were also acting similarly. They were keen to get to whatever was weighing their hearts and minds down.

"Yeah, brother… Tell me what happened? We are all here, I can even call Granny and Master back. Sam and Biggy are also with them, we are all here to help you, no matter what troubles you are facing!"

The stern look on Aiden's face eased up a bit after hearing his sister's reassuring words. Yes, his family, his real family wasn't those of the ancient past, nor those in that other life. The ones who raised him in this life were Granny, Master, and his beloved, elder sister, Lily!

He reached out, placing his left hand over hers, as he spoke with a gentle smile donning over his face.

"Thank you, big sis! I know I can count on you…" He winked as he added another sentence with a slightly cheekier tone. "After all, you did promise to protect your brother, right?"

Lily giggled at Aiden's words, nodding at him.

"Of course! We are all ready to help you. You just need to say the word!" As if reminded by something, her face lit up, as she added with a rising excitement leading her tone of voice.

"Oh, oh! You wouldn't believe how much we all grow! Sam, Biggy, and I have worked really hard you know!"

"I never doubted that." Aiden returned a smile to her sister, before turning his attention back to the room.

He forced his usual stoic cool outlook as he addressed everybody in the room.

"So, while Drake and Scarlet are already aware…" He looked at Sara as he added another remark. "…and I am guessing you too as well, by now Sara, that my friend, Cole has gone missing."

He took a moment before he continued on.

"You may not all be aware but Cole is not like us. He is not privileged to be born to some high-class family, nor was he lucky enough to find such an incredible person like Granny and Master. He was a farm boy, a villager that your human society looks down upon. He was bullied, kicked, beaten, tortured just for the fun of it, and because he wasn't tainted by the darkness.

He was a true friend of mine, and as such, I will not stand idly by and will get him out of that vile place, even if I have to burn it down to the ground!" What started as a normal speech, turned gradually more and more emotional. Thinking about the pain and suffering his friend has must be going through right now, Aiden could hardly contain his rising anger.

"Wait up Aiden, and explain a bit more to us, as I am not entirely sure I understand you. Who is this Cole exactly, and where was he taken?" Sara reached out for the boy, with the same worried look that she had before. "You know that I will stand by you. You helped me when I needed it, going as far as to agree to talk with my moth-" *Khm* She coughed, masking her embarrassment and correcting her wording. "…to talk to the Mistress, you can rest assured she will not stand idly by when you are in the need!"

"We will also not back down! As you are also aware, we also have someone we want to get out of that place! Our little brother, Dan will be reunited with us! You have our support all the way, Aiden!" Hearing the girl's exclamation, Drake could no longer sit still, he jumped up, hit the top of the table, joining with his own vow to Aiden's cause.

"Yes, like my brother said, we didn't have a good childhood. We were forcefully separated and taken away to serve some ancient pledge made between the Great Families back in ancient times. Our lives, our childhood were forcefully taken from us. We have finally gained this chance, we will not squander it!" Scarlet also joined the group, standing up. She grabbed her brother's hand, as she raised it to the air. "We are no longer members of that tainted family, we will stay by your side!"

Seeing how everyone was committing to the cause, Lily didn't want to be left behind. Not anymore. Now that she felt she had the strength, the power to assist her brother and not be a burden, she will not allow anyone to push her away from his side. She also jumped up, balled her cute little fists, and raised her right arm into the air. With a look of determination, she exclaimed.

"Brother you can also count on me! I will fight by your side!"

As she spoke, her hood fell behind, revealing her platinum blonde hair and to the great surprise of all the others in the room, her slightly elongated pair of ears.

As soon as she realized that, her face turned red as a tomato, she quickly turned away, desperately reaching to hide her ears. Before she could do so, however, Aiden stopped her, pulling her into his embrace and warmly whispering into her red ears.

"Don't be afraid, they will not shun you, they are all people we can trust. You do not need to hide here."

Although his words weren't loud, it was still heard by all three of them. Sara's shock and surprise eased up, turning into a warm smile, as she stepped closer. She placed her hand on the top of the girl's head, gently caressed it as she spoke with kindness.

"Just like your brother said, you do not need to be afraid when we are amongst ourselves. Nobody besides us can see you here. It doesn't matter if you are a human, an elf, or half-blood, we will welcome you. As Aiden's sister, I'm sure you are an incredible person. What do you say, can we… be friends?"

"Yes, Lily, as someone that is in similar shoes as you, being blessed and cursed with a brother that just can't sit still… let's be friends!" Scarlet also joined in, walking up to them, and placing her hand over the girl's trembling shoulder.

It took her a bit, but as she could not sense any hostility from either of them, Lily slowly, gradually managed to calm down. She slowly turned around, still not brave enough to completely step away from her brother, but with enough demeanor to look at both of the girls for a bit, before donning a thin, weak smile, and nodding silently at both of them.

A meek, powerless voice escaped her still wary lips.

"Y-yes… I would like that…"

"Great!" Scarlet grinned, grabbing the girl and forcefully pulling her away from the boy. "Come, tell me all the nasty things Aiden has done! I'm sure you have lots of cool stories to tell! In return, I will tell you all the things that stupid brother of mine has done before I was taken away… ahaha!" She laughed, pulling the girl back towards her seat, looking as if her story was merely something that one would tell over a bonfire and not something filled with pain, grief, and suffering.