Loganel walked down the familiar Astalan streets, alone, as he headed towards a familiar shop. He carried in his arms his battle coat and on his back, he carried his sword. He soon arrived at the shop ran by the elf siblings, and looking up at the wooden plate that marked the ownership and expertise of the store, he sighed as he realized that it has been quite sometime since he's been here.

Without knocking, he opened the door, and the small bell attached to the door rang to signify his arrival to the staff.

"Welcome," the voice of the familiar man greeted him. "It's been a while."

Loganel looked around the store, taking in the familiar scenery. It is almost unchanged since he last visited, with the only changes being minor ones such as the armor and weapons on display.

"Hello Merian," Loganel greeted the elf male behind the counter and walked up to it.

"Heard you were on that expedition." Merian leaned against the counter. "Must've been tough."

"Your armor really came in handy," Loganel said, looking down at the coat he had neatly folded and carried in his arms.

"So what will it be today?" Merian smiled. "An upgrade? Modification?"

Loganel's eyes met Merian's but he immediately looked away. Loganel felt ashamed for what he was about to do, but he can't help himself.

"I want to return it." Loganel placed his coat on the counter. "This too." He placed his sword on the counter as well.

"We don't accept returns," a woman emerged from the door that led to the forge and leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. She was still the same as before, with beads of sweat coating her exposed stomach and it drenched her black cropped tank top that merely covered her breasts.

"You buy do you?" Loganel continued on. "I'll sell it then."

"We do buy," the woman, Meriath, smirked. "But the best I'm offering is one Silver."

"Sis," Merian looked over at his sister in surprise. "It cost him thirty Silver for everything when he bought it."

"So?" Meriath opened her eyes and glared back at her brother. "It's worthless now. The blade is dull and the coat is badly beaten. You can tell by just looking at their user."

"I'll take that one Silver," Loganel nodded.

"You for real?" Merian whispered to himself. However, his sister's gaze made him take out a Silver coin and place it in the boy's palm.

"Thank you," Loganel said and he left the building with the bells ringing once again to signal his departure.

Merian stood there, as if unsure of what to do. However, he soon began checking the conditions of the gear that Loganel had returned, and not long after that, he walked them over to a display stand and began placing it there.

"What're you doing?" Meriath's voice halted his progress.

"I'm putting them up for sale," Merian said. "They're in fine condition."

"No," his sister shook his head. "Keep them for now."

"Because he'll be back for them," Merian smirked. "I know what you're thinking, sis."

"I-I didn't say that," Meriath blushed.

"Don't lie." Merian chuckled. "I've known you for all eighty years of my life. You can't hide things from me."

"You're annoying, you know that?" Meriath turned around and started for her forge.

"He reminds you of him, your husband, does he? That's why you carved 'Ifsilfghur', our elven blessing, on the sword. Right? And you told him it meant stubborn fool." Merian shook his head and sighed. "You even came out of the forge in the middle of a project just to talk right now."

"Merian," Meriath's voice suddenly became even more serious.

"Sorry," Merian apologized.

Then, he watched as his sister walked back into her forge.

"Never honest with your feelings," Merian sighed. "When will you learn?"

***

After selling his weapon and armor, Loganel proceeded in the direction to Avelin's house. He had placed Mazriel, his cat, in Avelin's care prior to his departure, and now he needs to retrieve Mazriel from her place. Avelin's residence wasn't too far from the Academy. It was only a few blocks away so getting there didn't take Loganel much time.

"Are you alright?" Avelin looked at him with a worried gaze, sensing that something has seriously disturbed this boy before her.

"I'm fine," Loganel responded, taking Mazriel into his arms. "Thank you for taking care of him."

Then, he turned around and began walking away from the opened door of Avelin's residence.

"Loganel," he heard Avelin call out to him. "If you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me."

Loganel, after finished hearing what Avelin had to say, continued on. He turned the corner and began walking in the direction of the Academy and to his dorms. On his way, his hands trembled, causing Mazriel to meow and look at him in a worried look.

Loganel, upon hearing Mazriel's cries, looked down at the cat which has placed its paw on Loganel's chin in hopes that this would cheer him up. Loganel maintained eye contact with his cat, and shook his head as tears started rolling down his cheeks.

"I'm fine," he whispered.

He avoided making eye contact or conversation with anyone as he walked to his dorms, and when he did get to his dorms, he stood in front of the closed door, unable to enter. He has the keys to unlock the door, but he still cannot enter. Fear prevented him from doing so. He's afraid that if he went in, memories of Juliana would flood him and break him down. Therefore, he stood there, dazed and afraid in front of his door, almost as if he was petrified or frozen in ice.

Finally, after about ten minutes, he took a deep breath and unlocked the door. Upon entering, he set Mazriel down on the ground and took in the familiar scent. This scent is the result of his, Juliana's, and Mazriel's scent all combined together. However, Loganel was immediately able to pick out Juliana's scent from the mix.

"She'll never be here again..." He sighed and walked towards his room.

He stopped in front of the door that led to his room, and he looked to the door on the opposite side of the hall. This door led to Juliana's room. He walked over and placed his hand on the door knob of her room. However, when he wanted to turn it, he realized that it is locked. He reached into his pockets and took out the key that he had taken from Juliana's soulless body, and he proceeded to insert it into the keyhole. The key was able to slide in without any resistance, but Loganel still was unable to turn it to unlock the door. The fear made it impossible for him to do so.

With a defeated sigh, Loganel unlocked the door to his own room and entered with Mazriel by his side. He shut the door behind him and proceeded to change out of his clothes into more comfortable ones before he collapsed on his bed. Mazriel hopped onto his bed and curled up into a ball on his chest.

He laid there in silence and his cat watched him. The sun made its arc across the sky, turning day into night, but the two still laid there. Loganel didn't feel any hunger nor the desire to eat and so did Mazriel, who sensed that only one of his masters returned and that the other one may never come back again. Thus, Mazriel too was in a state of sorrow as he curled up close to his only remaining master, sitting on his chest to make sure that this one would never leave him as well.

"Loganel?!"

Someone shouted from outside the dorm suite and knocked on the door.

"You in there?"

The voice is extremely familiar and it would appear that there's more than one person outside his door.

"I'm coming in!" the person outside announced.

Laurina and Redgilus...Loganel reasoned since the two of them are the only ones that have the keys to his place.

"Now where is he?" Loganel heard Redgilus's voice say from the living room.

"Let's go check his room," Laurina responded.

After a short while, Loganel's older siblings barged into his room and stood there overlooking their younger brother, whose eyes were bloodshot and trails of tears lined his cheeks.

"Loganel..." Laurina whispered as she walked over and sat down on his bed, looking at him in silence and with sorrow in her eyes.

"We've brought you some food," Redgilus held up a paper bag. "You haven't have anything to eat yet, right?"

"..." Loganel remained silent.

"Come on." Redgilus walked over towards Loganel, and Mazriel immediately hopped off of Loganel's chest. Then, Redgilus proceeded to pull Loganel up from his bed and force him into a sitting position. "Let's go to the living room..."

The three siblings plus the cat all gathered in the living room. Laurina had turned on the lights so that the room was illuminated while Redgilus sat there on the couch adjacent to the one Loganel was on, just watching him.

"You should eat something," Laurina said, unpacking the food from the paper bag and placing them in front of Loganel on the coffee table. She then proceeded to pour some cat food into Mazriel's bowl and gave him some water.

"What happened?" Redgilus asked in a stern voice.

"..." Loganel didn't respond as he looked apathetically towards the food on the coffee table.

"Stop trying to hide it," Redgilus crossed his legs. "Tell us."

"Juliana," Loganel finally spoke up, albeit in a soft whisper that was barely audible. "She..."

"Why're you sad?" Loganel's brother asked. "She's just a maid, a servant. So why're you sad?"

"Hey," Laurina warned Redgilus in a hushed voice to remind him that he is going too far in his confrontation.

"Why're you crying for some servant?" Redgilus brushed off the warning and raised his voice. "You can get a new one."

"She's not just a servant!" Loganel shouted in response, finally allowing emotion to spill out. "She's more than that! She's been with me since my childhood! She's like family!"

"Then why did you let it all happen then?!" Redgilus slammed his hands on the coffee table. "If you value her, then why didn't you save her?!"

"I can't!

"You can't or you didn't want to?!" Redgilus's words echoed in Loganel's mind.

"Redgilus," Laurina sat down beside her twin brother and tugged at his arm.

"Stay out of this," Redgilus pulled his arm away from her. "If you can't do this then I will. You're too kind for this. I know. Then I'll do it."

"You're right," Loganel finally said after pausing for a minute to contemplate on the incident. "If I would've moved out of the way of the Curse, then Juliana wouldn't have to shield me from it. If my legs would've just listened to me!"

"Don't look for excuses," Redgilus said. "Don't blame it on anyone or anything. Blame it on yourself!" He stood up and pointed his finger hard at Loganel. "You're the reason she died!"

"I know," Loganel's voice trembled as he whispered.

"If you know then fix it," Redgilus yelled. "Do something about it instead of just laying there in your bed and crying."

"..."

"You're not gonna say anything?" Redgilus shook his head in disappointment. "You're a disgrace to our family. You're a disappointment to the name of Ainzloft. I'm done here."

After saying that, Redgilus walked out of Loganel's dorm, slamming the door shut behind him.

Laurina looked over at Loganel. "Stay strong," she said with a forced smile. Then, she followed Redgilus out of the dorm, leaving Loganel alone.

***

"Why did you have to do that?" Laurina asked Redgilus, who was waiting for her in the hall not too far from Loganel's dorm.

"Someone's gotta do it," Redgilus sighed and Laurina noticed that his legs are trembling. "Someone's gotta drag him out of there. You can't because you're too kind. This is something only an older brother can do."

"But..." Laurina said with tears forming in his eyes. "It's a bit harsh on him."

"I know," Redgilus shook his head. "But, he needs to grow up. We won't be able to be by his side forever. He needs to grow up...Just like how we had to."

"I know," Laurina wiped the tears off her face. "But still...I can't stand it to see him like that."

Redgilus pulled Laurina into his arms, comforting her. "Me too...But we're not kids anymore. We'll never be able to go back to those carefree days of our childhood. He needs to grow up."

Author's Note:

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