Zephyr stared at the duo while they kneeled into each other on the floor. His eyes were wide and he, like the others, were at a complete loss for words.

Instead of interrupting the surprisingly happy reunion, the future king let the two have their moment. Unsurprisingly, it was Cecily who stood first, pulling her father up with her.

When he seemed unsteady, Alma moved towards him, passing him the two crutches he'd quickly discarded.

Finally, the man's gaze shifted from his daughter to the soggy strangers behind her. His black eyes, unlike his daughter, were glassy an brimming with tears.

"Right," he said, sniffing, "where are my manners? Come in, come in." The small group followed the old man through the rickety house.

It was quint and humble, a few chairs, a single couch and a small T.V. made up the living room. To the side, carpeting changed into tile as the living room changed into a kitchen. It had a bar with three chairs, a small stove and microwave, and a fridge with a bit of duck tape holding wo knows what parts together.

"Please, sit," the man said, relaxing himself onto a one person chair. He discarded his crutches on the sides of him.

Another glance at his face had him wondering if he really was related to the steel hearted girl. He, unlike his daughter who was digging through his shelves in the kitchen, was biting his lip, trying to keep his smile to a minimum.

Zephyr chose to sit on the couch besides Rei. He sat down carefully, almost scared he'd break his hosts furniture.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have much food," he said, leaning over his shoulder to peek at Cecily. He was talking, but clearly too excited over the red haired girl who was apparently getting them all water from an old faucet. "There's a garden in the back, though if you want to grab some. Normally I go out in the mornings to harvest, but it's been so rainy today that I haven't gone out."

Cecily came back over, passing out cups of water to everyone, including her father, who was very very grateful.

"Is the poison ivy still alive?" Cecily finally said, breaking the silence. "Or did the cold kill it off?"

Unlike his daughter, the man's expression was always easy to read. His eyes immediately drooped at the thought of the poisonous plant. "Still growing. I had to abandon part of my garden it's gotten so nasty."

Cecily nodded before turning.

"Wait a second," the man called, stopping her immediately. "Wait. Wait. Where do you think you're going? You're coming back, right? Please say you're coming back."

The hunter rolled her eyes. "I'm coming back."

His panicked eyes suddenly changed to puppy dog eyes, big and round. "Soon?"

"Soon."

And, with that, she was out the back door.

The man leaned aback in his chair, letting out a sigh.

"Are you sure you're related?" Rei asked.

The man actually laughed. "Pretty sure. She has my eyes, see? I haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm Cyrus Earnheart, but most people call me Cy. I already know who all of you are, well for the most part. I tend to butcher names." His light gaze suddenly shifted over to Zephyr. "I know who you are, though. Former Prince Zephyr, right? It is Zephyr right, I didn't mess it up that bad?"

Orion stood first, moving his body between the man who preferred to go by Cy and his king. "You know who we are?"

"Oh," Mr. Earnheart said, suddenly excited, "and you must be the assassin. You're name is... It's a constellation, I know that. Uh, what was your name?"

"Orion."

"Orion! That's right. Really, though there's no need to make such a big fuss over me knowing who you are. Cecily brought you here and you trust her, right? Besides, there isn't much I can do with my foot the way it is."

Alma stood next, making her way over to Mr. Earnheart before kneeling in front of him.

"I'm a Saint," she explained. "Do you mind if I take a look."

"A Saint! How fun. And your name is..."

"Alma."

Gently, she took a ragged sock of his left foot and rolled up the leg of his pant. Sure enough, what looked like a cut from a sword came across his leg. The foot looked smaller than it should've been, at least in the former princes eyes.

"Can I ask how you got this?" Alma said, her fingers gently brushing over the scar.

By now, Orion was already sitting back down.

"In a war, actually," he answered, his eyes lighting up at story time. "See, I was pretty great, way back when. I was decently high ranking. Then, one day, I went out to fight, just like every other day and bam, no more foot. They sent me home. Honorably discharged. It wasn't all bad, though. I got to some back to my cute little daughter. She used to be so adorable and sweet. Now she's grumpy and quiet all the time. At least she's happy, though."

"So, were you the one who taught her how to fight?" Reiko asked. "Oh, uh, I'm Reiko."

"Yes sir, I sure did. I wanted my daughter to be able to defend herself." He looked up, meeting the curious gazes of everyone. Suddenly his expression turned softer. "She hasn't really told you anything, has she? Well, that's the be expected. Alright, story time part two then. I'm gonna be an awful person and tell you a story because you're her friends and I know she wants to tell you because, believe it or not, she really doesn't like keeping secrets but she's bad at explaining herself and also she's a grumpy butt with a surprising amount of pride but story time."

The others passed glances at each other, asking the silent question if this is really something they should listen to without permission. Then, there was a silent agreement. If her father thought Cecily wanted to tell them, then they'd trust him. Then they'd be bad people.

"Di," He started, "the nickname my former wife went by, was a nice person, to begin with. When I got back from the war, from fighting, then things started to change. We didn't have much of an income. Di worked at a small grocery store a few blocks up. We live in such a small town, though, that no one really went there. I could hardly work. Of course, I get a small amount of money for being a veteran, from the laws your father set up, but not enough to fix a leaky roof. It was enough to survive, but Di didn't want to survive, she wanted to thrive.

"Around the time Cecily was four, that woman hit her for the first time. I scolded her, of course, yelled at her for hurting my, our daughter. She apologized and I thought that was the end of it. The next time, she hit Cecily over the head with a plate. It shattered everywhere. I remember there was so much blood. I tried to protect her but, I think that day was the day I realized Di, that awful woman, wasn't happy with her life. She wanted more and more money and the was why she'd married me. I was a successful soldier.

"That was also the time I realized that this woman was staying with me for the little money I could get. Whatever she could get from my funds went to buying dresses and jewelry. Around the time she was six, Cecily taught herself how to hunt. She sold the pelts for money and I cooked the meat. I tried to get that damn woman out of our lives, but she told me that if she was going to leave, Cecily was coming with her. After all, if she just showed the court I couldn't provided for my daughter, there was no way I'd be able to keep her. And if she took Cecily with her, there was no way my daughter was going to live.

"I drew the line, one day when Cecily came home from hunting. She had some blood on her shoes, so naturally, she got it on the rug. Normally, she was so careful but it'd been a long day. I don't know what went through that woman's mind when she did what she did. I remember I tripped trying to get to her and I even tried to crawl. But I was too late. Suddenly there was all this blood and my daughter was wailing. That damn bitch cut her arm off. That was it for me, I was done. I was going to kick the woman out as soon as I knew my daughter would be okay.

"But then Cecily woke up and told me not to. She cried and begged me not to take her mother away. She was only thirteen and I know I shouldn't have listened to her but to look at that girl who hadn't cried in years balling her eyes out. I just...I couldn't make it worse for her. So, after that, I set boundaries, behind Cecily's back, of course. Di wasn't allowed to lay her hands on Cecily, not even to pat her head or anything. I told her if she ever raised her hand at Cecily again, she was leaving for prison and I'd make sure she never got a drop of my income again. It worked. We suddenly had less of an income, but she never touched my daughter again. I slept on the couch just so I never had to be in the same room as her. Unless Cecily was there, of course, then I'd make sure she was safe.

"I'd been saving money for a while, without telling anyone, to get a surgery that would replace my foot with a cybernetic one. Then maybe my daughter who was so young, wouldn't have to work. But there was my daughter, walking around with a hand and a stump, and suddenly hunting seemed like a good alternative. Cecily had an excuse to get out of the house. So, I went out and got one fitted for her. It was a bit on the expensive side because I intended to pay for both a surgery and cybernetic, but it was worth it. Suddenly, my daughter had a way out.

"When Cecily was seventeen, everything had been going okay. We weren't rich, but as she got better at hunting, wee weren't poor. Then, something snapped in Di. I could see it in her eyes when she walked over to Cecily and I with a knife in her hand. I stood up to defend her, but that woman wasn't going to Cecily, she was going for me. Cecily'd tackled me to the ground, just in time. And then she took on her mother. Of course, Di stood no chance against Cecily who was a hunter and still practiced what I'd taught her. But she struggled. What happened wasn't necessarily on purpose, though. The knife Cecily was trying so hard to push away was suddenly sticking out of Di's chest.

"You all know the rest. She went to a normal prison before she turned eighteen and got sent to that prison. I cried the day of her birthday, but I knew she was strong. I worried everyday that I'd get a letter explaining that my daughter was dead."

When Cy looked up, his face suddenly changed to worry.

Not a single one of them had dry eyes.

"Ah- wait- um- please don't cry. I should be the one crying. Please don't cry."

Alma stood up fist. "I'm going to pick veggables in da bag yard," she slurred, through tears.

Not one of the hunters friends was far.

---

Cecily wandered back into the yard, glancing curiously at the over grown garden. It had gotten so big since the last time she was there.

Quietly, she wondered if she should pick some before things started to get harder.

The back door banged open. Four teary eyed people walked out, all with big baskets in their arms.

"Show us what needs to be picked," Zephyr said, under his breath. Just loud enough for Cecily to hear.

"What exactly did my dad tell you?"

Alma finally met her eyes and she was a mess.

"Everything."

"Ahh. Of course he would." It was Cecily's turn to look away. "So he told you about how I... uh... you know."

Alma tackled Cecily, her arms wrapped around the hunters torso. "You didn't do anything wrong. You did everything you could to protect your dad. It's not your fault you got dealt a bad hand."

"Alma."

"Hmm?"

"I'm covered in poison ivy."