[Well... I suppose I made a mistake,] Xhez thought as Elisa walked closer to her, looking at her with intense curiosity. [But, maybe I can prevent this from becoming a bad thing!]

"This is... Xhez, what am I seeing?" Elisa asked.

"Um, could we sit down?" Xhez asked. "I would like to explain this to you in a slightly calmer position if you don't mind."

A couple of seconds after that, the two of them were sitting at the edge of Rin's bed, side-by-side. Elisa remained silent as she waited for Xhez to explain this to her, and the sprite tried to think of the best way to do that.

[I have done this a couple of times before, with Rin's family... The same sort of explanation would likely be enough here,] Xhez figured as she turned to look at Elisa.

"Rin and I, we are not actually sisters."

"Yeah, I sort of figured that out on my own," Elisa said, crossing her arms.

"Right, well, you know what happened to Rin sometime ago? When she went missing?"

"Mhm."

"Well... We met in that time."

Xhez went on to tell her everything that had happened. Just as she had with everyone at Dren, Xhez explained how they met, the little pact the two had made, and their journey through that dangerous forest. Elisa listened quietly, her eyes kept steadily on Xhez's own. her lack of a real reaction made Xhez worry that she was explaining this wrongly somehow. But, all she could do was relay what had happened to her, and hope for the best. So, she did that.

When she was done, Elisa just looked at her for a while.

"... And, this entire time, Rin's just been keeping you here?"

"Yes," Xhez replied. "She has promised to show me what human life is like. And, so far, she has kept that promise. I care deeply for her, as a result," Xhez added.

At that, Elisa raised a brow at her.

"So, how the hell did you make yourself look like her?"

"An Illusion spell, I believe is what it is called," Xhez replied. "Rin helped me learn it." As Elisa offered no response, Xhez continued, saying: "I... I mean no one any harm," Xhez stated. "I merely wish to learn. If you do not believe my words because I am not human, you could ask Rin, when she comes back. All I want is to understand you. That is my only objective. I-I have spoken with you already, a few times," she added. "Do I seem like a bad person to you?"

Again, Elisa largely remained silent, before finally, she let out a sigh and turned to face Xhez, crossing her legs.

"No, you don't," Elisa replied, and Xhez smiled a little, feeling hopeful. "Look, the way I see it, this is between you and Rin. So, whatever it is you two are up to, I'll stay out of it."

"Thank you," Xhez replied. "I hope we can keep speaking to each other, as we have before. I enjoy our talks."

Although the woman appeared frustrated, when she looked at Xhez, the sprite didn't see anger on her face. She felt like that was a good sign.

"... We'll see."

---

{Rin}

At the end of the night, all Rin got to do was work on her cunnilingus skills a little, but she still hadn't managed to squeeze any money out of Iris.

That said, as she arrived at the Academy later and found Elisa already asleep, with no Xhez in sight, Rin felt a little hopeful for the next day.

The following Saturday morning, she was carrying some excited energy as she looked forward to her evening plans.

[That Rose Party,] she thought. [If there are other women like Iris there, maybe I can get something done. Even if I can't, just learning a little about the nobility in Libera could be useful, so, whatever happens, I won't complain... too much, anyway.]

Before that, however, she needed to get some training done.

Dressing up in the armor she'd bought for herself before her short trip to Dren, Rin jogged up to the Meditation Center to see if she could find Maria here. Indeed, as Rin heard her muffled voice from behind the door, she guessed that Maria was there, however, she could hear someone else.

"I'm just saying, considering Sara's inclusion, it might be better for me to-" Cara was saying before Maria cut her off.

"No. We all saw what happened the last time you led Rin out on a mission. I'm handling her missions personally, now. I refuse to allow that to happen again."

[Oh, crap.] Rin felt awkward as she heard that.

Soon, the door swung open, and Cara, of course, was standing there. She looked at Rin for a couple of seconds before saying:

"Your timing sure is something," and then she walked away.

[Yeah, I know,] Rin sighed, as she walked in. Maria, of course, was already looking her way.

"Hey, teach'," Rin held up a hand. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Rin," Maria said, as she sat down on the floor with a huff. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"No, no, it's fine," Rin replied, waving her hands in the air as she did the same, sitting in front of her. Something else came to her mind, however, and Rin said, "but, uh, I think Cara means well... Do you really have to go so hard on her?"

And, when she said that, for the first time since the two of them had met, Maria looked at her with what Rin could only describe as hostility.

Rin was taken aback.

"U-Uh..."

The look on her teacher's face disappeared in a second or two, replaced by a sudden melancholy, but the brief aggression in her eyes was enough to send shivers up Rin's spine.

"You came to train, right?" She asked, then.

"Y-Yeah."

"Then, let's get on with it."

Just like that, she ignored Rin's statement and the two went on with their day as they usually did. What Maria had planned was different, though. Instead of the normal sparring or practicing new techniques, Maria walked out of the Meditation Center for just a minute, before bringing some workout equipment from the nearby gym.

"Here," Maria said, as she dropped a barbell in front of Rin. "Today, we'll be doing some strength training."

"Really?" Rin raised a brow. "I'm, uh, kinda surprised. Why are we doing this?"

"Do you remember what I explained to you a while ago? About the different stages of the martial artist's journey?"

"Uhm... Vaguely."

"Okay, well," Maria explained, "one was the Stage of the Body. In order to progress in this stage, you must train your body to its physical peak. Eli has been having all of you do dynamic training with his obstacle course, but you need to improve your different physical traits individually to truly become the martial artist you need to be. So, today, we will be starting with your body's strength. Wait here, while I get some weights."

"Sure."

Again, Maria exited, and when she came back, she was holding five plates, in each of her small hands. Each one weighed fifty pounds, meaning that in total she was carrying 250 pounds in each hand like it was nothing. She placed them all on the ground easily, and set them all on the barbell, as Rin watched.

[... Actually,] Rin thought. [Can I lift this? How strong have I actually gotten?]

"Alright then," Maria said, as she finished putting the plates on the barbell. "Go ahead and start, whenever you're ready."

"Uh..." Rin said, staring at the object with worry.

"Rin," Maria chuckled. "I suppose you haven't gotten too many opportunities to test yourself, but I promise you, you can already lift this. Go ahead and try."

"If you say so," Rin replied, and Maria showed her the position she needed to take, spreading her hands on the bar and her feet.

Then, Rin deadlifted the bar, and she was surprised when she found that, although it was heavy, she was doing it.

[Holy crap!] Rin smiled down at herself. [I'm doing it! I'm actually-]

"Good, I want fifty squats," Maria told her before she hopped on top of Rin's back.

"AGH!?" Rin let out a strained yelp as Maria wrapped her legs and arms around Rin's body. "M-Miss Camille!?"

Maria chuckled in her ears, her demeanor having returned to what it normally was.

"Just giving you a bit more of a challenge. Go ahead. Fifty squats."

---

[My ass...] Rin nearly cried. [My ass is on fire.]

Every step she took down the stairs when the training session was done nearly made her cry. She couldn't wait for the healing food from the cafeteria to get to work already.

Rin arrived at her room a little while after that, but when she walked inside, she froze.

Elisa was standing there, looking like an absolute angel. With her sunlight hair tied into a ponytail, and wearing a red dress that showed off her strong arms, and thighs, she looked over at Rin with a smirk.

Though, she saw that with how Elisa had her eyes narrowed, there was some other emotion mixed in there, aside from amusement.

Rin also noticed she was wearing a certain necklace. One that was a lot like the one she'd stolen three years ago, with the symbol of a phoenix. on it.

"U-Uh...." Rin paused.

"Well? Aren't you getting dressed?" Elisa asked. "We're heading to the Rose Party, aren't we?"