Grisha stares blankly at the countless words on the pages. He lowers his book, putting dozens of others into view.

"This is going to take a while."

His mother tasked him with looking through their entire catalog of historic texts, hoping to find useful knowledge on the mercenaries. From the looks of it, there is at least one group involved in nearly every war. The battle at Tavros Andras, the Telenio Sfagi, even the Elven downfall in the forest of the ancients. The overwhelming amount of information was rupturing his brain.

To make matters worse, he couldn't concentrate. Mother said that if he focused on working, he could divert his thoughts from Pasha, but each time he tries to read further, his brother's face appears in his mind. Pasha's screams echo through his skull, bringing along memories of his own trial. He shivers at the thought.

Grisha's head flops onto the table with a sigh. "I need to stop thinking about Pasha."

He places the book on top of a pile and stands from his chair. "Fresh air should help."

He writes a note that reads, "be back in a sec. I'm taking a breather." And with that, he leaves for the garden.

The sight of the majestic flowers decorating the glass room eases his mind. Pink evening primrose line the sides of the stone path. Deep blue moon-flower vines wrap around statues of handmaidens of the nature goddess, Kasumi. Night phlox and violet wisteria grow out towards the sky, rising past the clear windows. The vibrant rays of Sora's moon bringing gentle light upon the humble abode.

He breathes in the mixing aroma of the gorgeous flowers, letting the sound of the blowing wind take his mind away to a more peaceful place. He picks a moon-flower, cradling it in his hands, and steps closer to the likeness of Kasumi, dressed in her floral skirt.

Even though she is a neutral goddess, it's rare seeing her worshiped in the shadow-lands. Being the daughter of Hikari, the light's primary god, causes problems with people who side with the dark. They only have this area dedicated to Kasumi because Grisha asked persistently for it, claiming it will help him relax.

That was partially true, but it's not the real reason he wants it.

As he reaches Kasumi, he admires her features. Her gentle smile and far off stare filling him with comfort. He places the moon-flower into her palms, which open in front of her marble chest. Then, finished with his admiration, he sits against the glass wall beside her.

The thought may seem ridiculous, but the goddess was the only being he could relate to. Her tales speak of her quiet, lonely nature. Well... I guess lonely wasn't the right word for it. She enjoys being alone, her garden being the only safe-haven from the constant advances of the fire god, Fudo. While he didn't have to worry about upsetting a raging war god, himself, he still longs for a place of such pleasant loneliness.

He gazes off into the distance alongside Kasumi. "This may be sad, be I think you may be the only friend I have." He looks up to the unresponsive statue. "I hope that doesn't offend you, my lack of godhood and all, but you're the only one I feel I can talk about my issues with."

Chuckling, he continues, "but yeah, being with my family is nice and all, but I feel... off... talking with them about my feelings. I don't want to give them a bigger burden than they already have, but if I don't talk about them, I know I'll snap, eventually. So... here I go. Because of this never-ending conflict, I hold a burning hatred in my heart. I constantly think of the pain my siblings and people face because of this unnecessary separation the light put between us." His voice lowers. "And now, I feel even more worried than before. Ever since Pasha was born, I get anxiety from not knowing where he is for even a second. I worried for my other siblings when they were shade-lings too, but... this is different. Now the danger of the light is growing. The war is approaching, we have assassins after us, and worst of all, we sent Pasha to his trial, while he's still a child..." Grisha lays his head against her leg.

"Do you see us as monsters?" He waits for a response he knows will never come.

He laughs softly, now fully sprawled at her feet. "Guess that's one disadvantage from talking with you. You're a great listener, but your conversation skills are subpar at best. Well... I guess I'm not really one to judge. I am talking to a statue..." His sentence trails off as he feels arms wrap around him, a hand gently laying on his head.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Grisha wakes up in his room. He rubs his eyes with a yawn. "I fell asleep again. Should probably get back to the study before mom notices." As he stretches ups, he sees a tall form sitting in a dark corner of the room, watching him.

Wait... he didn't fall asleep in his room.

Flustered, he tries to explain himself, "oh, mom... I just went to get some fresh air, and... I... kinda fell asleep."

The mistress folds her hands in front of her. "I can see that."

He scratches the back of his head, avoiding eye contact. "Sorry."

She stops him with her hand. "No, that's alright. You need your rest. You do have to sleep for the rest of us, after all."

"Yeah, that's true." He still feels bad, but the words console him slightly.

The mistress clasps her knee. "What were you able to find out? If you're awake enough to tell me, anyway."

He mainly just skimmed through the books, looking for the names of the organizations to appear, but that only taught him when they were involved.

"Not much. It seems they played a part in a lot more wars than I remembered."

"The light empire is always attempting to hide their underhanded tactics, such as the mercenaries. Most stories are heavily edited, now. There are even some battles that were completely erased from their history."

You would think using mercs and militia so often would give them a bad reputation.

"Most of the groups originate in the sunlands. How is the light empire able to get away with using them so often?"

"They just say the mercenaries were third parties, only there for treasure and the such."

"And people believe that?" Grisha asks, his eyebrow raising.

"If there is one thing they're good at, it's choosing leaders who know how to control people. And Ambrosio easily reaches the top of that list."

She knew more about this than he does.

"You know a good amount about their history. Why did you ask me to look into it?"

The mistress leans back into her chair. "I know when and why they were involved, but I can't say much about where they gather and how they work. Along with that, you wanted to stay until Pasha returns anyway, so I figured you could research it for me."

"Makes sense." He pats his legs, then stands up to stretch. "Well, I should probably get back to studying. Think I wasted enough time already."

"Very well."

He was about to walk out the door when she adds, "if you're planning on staying focused, I would suggest not going back to the garden."

He rolls his eyes and keeps walking. "Yeah, yeah."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Reentering the study, he sees that someone had changed his messy piles of books into neat, organized stacks. Not only that, they placed them in chronological order.

"That's handy." He mutters to himself.

It must have been one of the shades. He'll have to thank them later.

"Now where were we." Picking a book off the top of the leftmost stacks, he melts into his studies. He feels more focused than the day before. Maybe he just needed to rant. Whatever it was, it makes him feel a lot more relaxed. Thanks, Kasumi.

Hours pass as he digs deeper into the texts.

There are a few mentions of the rising sun. They seal rings onto their followers as a sign of loyalty... Adrik already told him that. Most battles they fight in are very close to the wastelands, and all of their actions appear to be done to take over that area. Although it was nice to know, he's sure Adrik knows this. None of it is useful.

He'll just skip to the next group, he's not too worried about Adrik having trouble, anyway.

Ok, what's next on his list. The demons of sunlight.

His mother learned some information from the masked man they captured, but he kept his mouth shut for the more important things. They learned that the demons of sunlight are an assassination focused group. They have a small team of ten members, but each of them has had significant training in a unique weapon, so the threat they pose is still real. If he could just find out which weapons they use, he could make a sound strategy for beating them.

He couldn't find their weapons, but he is able to figure out their chain of command. They work in duos. Red and green were the lowest ranks, then yellow and blue, orange and gray...

A long creak sounds, breaking his concentration, but before he has time to check what it is, a small form tackles him off his chair.

"Slicer!"

He feels worries locked deep in his mind fade.

"Pasha!" He shouts back, returning the hug to his filth-covered brother.

Pasha snuggles into his chest. "I missed you."

"I missed you too..." Grisha examines his sibling. Pasha had gotten bigger, although not by much. He now stands at around 5 feet. Seeing how much he's grown makes Grisha a bit teary-eyed.

Then the torn clothes that cling to Pasha's scratched skin come into view, and he remembers where his brother was. Looking closely for any major wounds, Grisha asks, "are you alright?"

Pasha doesn't respond, keeping his face hidden in Grisha's chest. Then, after minutes of silence, he steps back with a wide smile and overflowing confidence. "Yep! the monster didn't stand a chance." Then points to the ground. "And look I got a second shadow."

He's hiding something. Grisha can feel the tear stains left on his shirt. But not wanting to bring back painful memories so soon after his trial, he plays along.

"Oh, cool! Do you know what it does?"

Pasha looks to the shadow, who shrugs at him. "Uh... Fear?"

The response causes Grisha to smirk. Pasha may have grown physically, but he's still a kid. "I'll take that as a no. Guess that's something we'll have to figure out later. For now though, how about you tell me how you beat your shard?"

Pasha nods his head vigorously. "Yeah!"

Grisha pushes away all thoughts of difficulties from his mind, letting the happiness of seeing his brother take over.

"So it all started in a cave..."