Jane sighed. Things couldn’t get much worse than this. She had walked into her house in a cheerful mood, the triumphant queen returning to her castle. A weary traveler returning to her starting point. It was supposed to be a night where she cracked open the last bottle of champagne she had received when she retired, but alas, it was not to be.

Jane had come back, a full smile on her face, only to be met with a pout and scowl from an integral part of her plan: Bella. “Oh, there you are dear! Come closer so grandma can give you a hug, I’m so proud of you!”

Jane hobbled towards her granddaughter, only to have Bella sidestep at the last possible moment, almost causing Jane to fall over. Upset at her sudden loss of balance, Jane cursed at Bella and raised her voice.

“Gods damn it Bella! I could have really hurt myself there! What’s gotten into you?” Jane lost some of the venom in her voice upon seeing the look of worry carved into Bella’s face, but still looked at her granddaughter questioningly.

“Grandma,” Bella’s voice trembled, “you need to tell me who that boy is, and why you needed to take him back with us.” Jane widened her eyes in disbelief. She had never seen her granddaughter behave so brashly before, and even more startling was the fact that it was the first time she had confronted her grandmother about anything!

However, Jane simply could not afford to have Bella revolting now, not at this stage in the plan. It’s a good thing she was slow on the uptake, it shouldn’t take much to dissuade her from this line of questioning.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about dear. The only reason I saw him at all was because I was looking through my telescope at the right time, and not anything more.” Smiling, Jane reached for Bella’s arm.

“Come now. While we wait for our new arrival to wake up, let’s get something to eat, and drink some champagne. I just so happen to have one bottle left for such an occasion-” Jane made contact with Bella’s arm, but was quickly disappointed as the limb retreated from her touch.

“No Grandma… Jane Clairborne, tell me now. What is that boy to you, and what are you going to do with him?” The smile slipped from Jane’s face, but Bella continued to press forward.

“It’s not a coincidence that we picked him up. You’ve been looking out your telescope for months now, waiting for something that you couldn’t even imagine, because even you had no idea what form it would take.” Jane stepped back, shocked by the sheer audacity of Bella to even begin questioning her.

“But now that he’s in our- your grasp, the first thing you tell me to do is run from men who want to take whatever in the six gods names he is away from us? How does that not scream like something you’ve planned and thought of repercussions for!?”

“Silence!” This time it was Jane’s commanding voice that boomed out, silencing the mistrust between Jane and Bella in a single word.

“Do you have any idea how much I do for us, Bella? How much I’ve slaved over the decision to carry out this plan, and all to give us a better life!?” Bella backed up, fear and confusion on her face. Her grandma had never yelled at her before, or even raised her voice. Bella’s eyes darted back and forth as Jane’s horns began to crackle with electricity.

“Every single decision I’ve made thus far has been to bring you and I a more stable future, and in doing so protect us from this continent's laws and the people that would enforce them! Tell me Bella, have I ever made a move that didn’t end up putting us on top!?”

Bella shook her head and whispered, “No grandma. Mom always said that even amongst your magical prowess and battle sense, your foresight was what any enemy of yours should be afraid of.”

Jane sighed, and her face relaxed, causing the electricity on her horns to cease flowing. “Exactly. Like the silkworms I bought in case I lost my funding from the regency, or this mansion I purchased while I was one of the Coats, I never stop planning, never stop thinking about my future. Because the moment you cease to make a move, your enemies are already two steps ahead of you.”

Jane walked up to her granddaughter, who was looking down in shame, and put an arm on her shoulders. Bella didn’t pull away this time, but looked Jane straight in the eyes as tears welled in her own. “I’m sorry grandma. I just… I was so scared when you told me that people were coming to investigate. I’ve never heard that kind of concern and urgency in your voice! It- it made me wonder if what we were doing was safe.”

Jane stroked her granddaughter’s warm chestnut hair to calm her down before speaking. “Silly child, nothing is ever safe. However, this isn’t the first gamble I’ve taken in my life, and by the gods’ graces it won’t be my last. Believe me, if we are ever in danger then I will tell you, but without knowing who wants the boy, I can’t make countermeasures for them.”

Bella looked at her grandma worriedly, “Does this mean that you’re in the dark about our enemies?”

Jane just chuckled and shook her head. “No, I received a generous information donation from someone you know about the spies that were pursuing us, and don’t worry, he’s already taken care of them.”

Bella frowned and considered the information her grandma had just given her. “Someone I know? Grandma, stop playing games and just tell me already.”

Jane sighed, “So impatient, you have to learn to slow down and enjoy things a little. Oh well, no matter. I saw Conrad Morrow at th-”

“Uncle Conrad was here! Oh my gods it’s been ages! How was he, did he remember me?” Bella could barely contain her excitement, which made a smile appear on the visage of the elderly woman.

‘This is how Bella should be,’ Jane thought. ‘Happy and excited, not looking as if someone had died in the mansion, and it would hurt her to even speak of it.’

“He did remember you,” Jane started, “and he even said he would visit at the end of this week to chat. I told him about how lonely it was with just the two of us in this big mansion, and we came to a little agreement that he would visit every week, not just this one.”

Bella’s wide smile as she spoke made Jane’s heart grow warmer. “That’s great news, grandma! We have so much to catch up on, I can’t wait to finally talk to him in person after so long! Oh, maybe he can-

A loud crash echoed from where Bella had left the boy, and her eyes widened. He’s awake? That quickly!? Sure, he didn’t have any visible wounds, but he had just fallen from… gods know how high and even evaporated the lake with how much heat he let off.

“I think our guest is awake, Bella. Come, let’s go to him.” At her grandma’s request, Bella held Jane’s arm to steady her as they ascended the lonely spiral staircase together.

---

Jane sat at the foot of the boy’s bed, trying to figure out exactly what he was. He appeared to be either a human or a god, but she had never seen an adult human this short, or a god with this pigment of skin.

Even stranger than his species, was the fact that neither her nor Bella could understand him, which, for a scholar like herself, was an impressive feat to accomplish.

“What do you think he wants?” Bella asked curiously, while Jane just shook her head and sighed.

“I don’t know, but I can’t understand a word he’s saying. If only we had something to…” Suddenly, an idea popped into her head and sparks crackled in the air around her head as her eyes widened.

“Bella, remember the shed I told you not to go in? There’s a gold box in there, with all my artifacts on ancient languages from the Gold Continent in there. Bring it to me, quickly.”

“Y-yes grandma!” Bella left, flustered, and Jane turned her eyes back to the boy, whose eyes had narrowed and mouth was frowning. If she didn’t know his language, maybe he knew one of theirs.

---

Bella rushed into the formerly empty room where the newly awoken meteor man was resting. She thought for a moment about how the room was supposed to belong to her parents, before shoving it out of her mind and opening the door.

“Ah Bella, there you are.” Turning her eyes to the box, a grin showed on Jane’s face. “And that’s the right box, good girl. Give it here.”

Jane opened the box and took out a strange sheet with various letters and cryptograms on it, and handed it to the man. “Here, take this. I’m certain we can find a link to you here.”

With a cautious look on his face, the man gingerly took the sheet before looking over it, his eyes widening as it neared the bottom. He flipped the sheet over, and pointed to a symbol that looked like 天”

“あなたたちは日本語をしりますか。” Jane smiled.

“Bingo. That’s the language of the founders of the Gold Continent, Japanese.” Skillfully replying, Jane told him she understood and asked what his name was and where he was from.

Tilting his head, the man’s eyes narrowed as he held his head in both hands. “What… what is my name again?”