"You seem to be coping really well," Nonna spoke from where she sat in the armchair.

"I don't really have any other option. The sooner this all ends, the sooner my life goes back to normal," I said, handing up a red dress in my closet.

"Are you serious?" I turned to look over at a shocked Akia. "Red, you do realize that there is no "normal" that you can go back to, right?"

Eiden nodded. "This is your new normal now."

I shook my head, going back to my suitcase. "No, no, absolutely not!" I chuckled, pulling out three shirts and walking over to my dresser. "No, everything is going to be fine after this."

"Red..." I didn't look at Nonna as I shoved the dresser drawer closed. "How can you expect things to be normal after this?"

I fought back the growing tears as I zipped up my suitcases and tucked them into my closet. "Well, no one really has to know...what I am."

"Are you kidding? Nearly everyone knows!"

I straightened from my squat, turning to look back at Akia. "What?"

Eiden sighed, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder, before scooting over on the bed, giving me room to sit between the two of them. "Do you really think those Bathildes found you by chance?"

"I was hoping...but what does that mean?" I slowly sat down on the bed, pulling my legs to my chest.

Akia grabbed my hand, both of us turning towards Nonna as she spoke up; "your school is composed not just of Hermanns, but Wilhemines and Barrins as well."

"Well, I figured that out when I found out what these two are." I motioned to the twins sitting beside me.

"Yes, but unlike Eiden and Akia, not everyone is a Gervais. Bathildes went to school with you, too."

I still need to get used to this vocabulary. "So you're saying that I go, er-went to school with people who want to either kill me or stand beside me?"

Eiden and Akia looked at each other again, a habit that was really starting to annoy me, before the former nodded. "Yes, essentially."

"Great," I muttered, hiding my face in my hands. "I really love that."

"Red." Nonna stood up and walked over to me." You know that you can't go back to being who you were after this. You can't go back to being Red Monroe-"

"And why not? I don't want to give up my life, it's mine! I don't want to have to stay and be a goddess because that's what everyone wants me to do. I just want to go back to being a high school junior and a photography student." My voice was cracking from my emotions as tears spilled from my eyes.

"Be rational, darling! Do you really think that the Bathildes will immediately accept you or that the Gervais will just forget the war? It doesn't work like that."

"You're not the only one who wishes it did." I looked over at Akia, who was just staring at her folded hands. "My best friend is a goddess who's been attacked four times. If Eiden and I don't get into severe trouble for that, we're going to have to live a stricter life in protecting you."

I frowned, grabbing Akia's hand again, before my brows furrowed. I mentally counted the number of times I was hurt and something didn't add up. "Four times? It was only three. In the school, Eiden biting my wrist, and the Bathilde biting my shoulder."

"Oh, uh...wrong number?"

"Mhm, I definitely believe that."

Eiden sighed. "Akia, you really messed up now."

I looked at him. "What, what did she do?"

"Ask your grandmother," both of the twins replied.

I faced Nonna, crossing my legs and staring at her in confusion. Nonna huffed, glaring at the siblings. "You two will be the death of us." She swallowed, before looking at me. "Alright, Red, I may have fibbed a little bit when I told you how you came to me."

"You said that Saxton...my father, gave me to you...what else could have happened?"

"Well," Nonna inhaled deeply, looking around the room. "I wasn't asked directly by Saxton to care for you. Instead, after an attack on their home, they left you there with clues to your discovery. Malia the Bathildes away from you, acting like you with her, while Saxton brought the closest Barrins, your Nonno and I, to you."

Oh, so that's what Akia meant earlier.

"He hadn't met you before?"

"Never. Your mother had never met these two fools before either."

The siblings gawked. "Wow, rude," they mumbled in synch, causing me to chuckle.

"Those scars on your leg, the ones I told you came from you falling in the woods and getting cut on a stick?" I looked down as Nonna spoke again, roughly pulling up my pant leg. There were three pale lines running straight down the center of my right leg. "Those were wounds from the swords of Barrins. Your Nonno and I cared for you, so they scarred over easily."

"Geez, I must be fun to attack, then," I huffed, lifting my leg up and looking at the scars.

"If it makes you feel any better, you don't exactly taste very good," Eiden chirped.

"You know, surprisingly, that didn't cheer me up."

"Yeah, very salty."

"Hm, I wonder why."

Eiden shrugged, smirking at his sister. Akia just rolled her eyes, looking at me. "Well, that's all we can teach you."

"Really? That's it?"

"Yes." Nonna straightened again, motioning for Eiden and Akia to do the same. "That's all we can tell you for now. Everything else you have to learn yourself through training or other messages."

I raised an eyebrow, rolling my pant leg back down. "And what does that all include?"

Eiden smirked, pushing the two women out of the door. "Change into some exercise clothes and meet me in the kitchen in twenty minutes." And with that, he was gone.

I looked around the room, letting out a breath. "Okay," I heaved, fisting my flannel in my hands. "Okay."

Deep breath. Deep breath. Deep breath. "I can do this."

I stood up, walking over to my dresser and pulling out a pair of black leggings, a black sports bra, and a red sleeveless cropped hoodie. I changed into the clothes, slipping on some black no-show socks and a red and black pair of tennis shoes from my closet. "I can do this."

Tightening my ponytail, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. "I can do this."

I stared at my black eyes.

"I can do this."

I stared at my red hair.

"I can do this."

I stared at the pale bite scar.

"I can do this."

Deep breath. Deep breath. Deep breath.

"I can do this."