A dream from long ago, flashes in her mind and replays before her eyes. Almost as if reliving the bittersweet memory but with her as a mere bystander. And she watches as a tiny little girl runs after a woman, her long braids swaying with her every step, and she tackles her into a hug. It incited an amused giggle from the familiar woman, a sound she missed so much that it clenched at her heart.

"Hello, Esher. It seems you've missed me."

"Of course, Arba! You've left me for a long while!"

She could hear the pout from her younger self. Those sorts of greetings that she gave the woman was something that always happened. It couldn't be helped, after all. She was fighting for the betterment of the world. And although waiting uncertainly, wondering if she was going back harmless or full of wounds, she always waited.

Always.

Her younger self's expression fell, remembering the times she had spent waiting as well. She could feel the Ruhk around her growing uneasy as she spoke, her voice sounding tinier than it previously was.

"Arba... what happens when one dies?"

She looked up at the woman, who gave her small smile. It was neither uncomfortable or hesitant, just a patient one and she lifted her up into her strong arms. She had almost forgotten how much she could be so reassuring whenever she held her like that.

"Well you see, when that happens, that person becomes one with God. What a wonderful thought, yeah?"

Like she was infected with her joyful smile, the girl smiled widely as well. She found the thought of something like that to be more reassuring and more fitting than any answer she was to receive from this woman who she viewed as her own mother.

"Yes, it is!" She wrapped her arms around the other's neck and squeezed tightly as she whispered with all sincerity she could muster, "I love you, Arba."

And she responded,

"I love you too, Esher."

---

When she had opened her eyes, Esher felt as if things had been different. It was a feeling at first, then she saw the actual physical differences.

She was in a room of sorts, laying on a lush bed with designs on the sheets that she had never seen before. There were pillows, but even those looked different from the usual white she knew of.

Where was she?

She tried to heave her body up, but found that she couldn't. It was almost like she was weaker, like a fawn who had just been born and immediately tried walking.

It was painful to move.

But there was little she could see laying down and only moving her head so she gritted her teeth, and did her best to roll over to her side. That was tiring already by itself but she must hoist herself up still. So, swinging one arm so she could clutch the headboard above her head, she proceeded to pull her body up. She was groaning in pain during the action, and despite wanting to let go and be reclaimed by the bed, she knew that it would be better if she just sat up, especially in that place she was unfamiliar of.

Esher was gasping by the time she was done. Sweat dotted her face and her limbs were still trembling. There were questions floating about in her head. What was with her? What happened and why was she having trouble moving?

Her blue eyes scanned the room once more, the sun that was filtering in from the cracks of what looked to be a window gave her an indication that it was about noon and she could see more than before. The curtains, the chair, the desk, the clutter of decorations, the wood walls; everything was unfamiliar.

Dread settled in the pit of her stomach, making her realize that whatever place it is, it was far away from everyone she knew.

Her gasps turned panicked and she could feel her throat closing. She crawled closer towards the edge of the bed, swung her legs so they dangled from end, and did her best to stand up. She was only upright for a few moments before her legs gave out underneath her and she was left sprawling on the floor. As her palms scraped on the wooden floor, she could feel tears welling up from the corner of her eyes. The reality that she was in, hitting her harder than ever.

She felt so weak, in a place that she did not know of. It was like she was kidnapped and stripped of whatever it is that made her capable of moving by herself and she didn't like it. She was afraid of it.

Then, her eyes caught sight of what appeared to be a green rock of sorts. It had a shape unusual of that of a rock; it was longer, with branch like segments sticking out. It was on a top of a shelf, like it was a decoration among the water themed ones beside it.

As if something clicked, she started remembering.

Faint cries of help.

Roars of the monsters that killed any and every one they saw.

Fire, crackling, burning.

And then...

There was a voice.

Far away but growing ever near.

It was the desperate yell of a mother, reaching out to her as her consciousness faded.

"ESHER!"

Jolting, she gasped and reached out her hand to the person, "Arba!" But it disappeared before she could touch her. Perhaps it was due to shock, but her hands shook terribly so and the tears she was holding back fell deftly on her cheeks unto the floor beneath her.

She heard murmurs, some even alarmed yells from outside her rooms. It was far away yet close. She could also feel their menacing presence as they came closer to where she was. But with shock, she didn't pay them any mind. Instead, she was focused on what she had remembered.

She held her hand close to her face and for a moment, it was dyed red with her blood.

That's right. She died, didn't she? On top of that Gunud where she lay helpless, watching as more and more of the magicians fell from the hands of the Nagas. It was a mission. She was so happy to have it assigned to her. And because she wanted to help that one child Naga from that falling debris, despite the fact that they were supposed to be her enemies. She was weak to kids, seeing that child not know they were about to get hurt because they were dazed from mind control magic was something she could not ignore. And that left her open to the Nagas who were out to get her.

It was instantly, like a blink of an eye. One moment, she was fine, the next she was ambushed. They were able to hurt her but it wasn't anything life threatening yet, but she had used her magic and she was running low on Magoi.

The decisive blow happened when they cornered her on atop the Gunud.

It hurt more than any wound she has every received in her life. And she knew with her low reserves, she would not be able to heal herself.

Her hands unconsciously trailed towards her stomach, the clothes she was dressed in were in the way, but she knew the wound was gone. She could not feel it even if she pressed at it. It was supposed to hurt, wasn't it?

"What... what..?"

Suddenly, the door to her room burst open. Surprised flickered in her face as men with unfamiliar clothing (no, those are too thick and heavy for everyday wear. Are they armored, maybe?) entered and pointed what looked like glaives at her. They started yelling at her, with tongue she could not understand. The weapons were pointed at her in a way that she knew if she made one wrong move, she was going to be pierced.

She wasn't fond of the thought. Nor was she anymore glad that they were doing it while she felt she was at her most vulnerable state.

The thought of having to die once again was probably what fueled her fear even more.

Before she knew it, her palms that were connected with the wooden floor started glowing a faint purple light. Her magic now activated, made the wood react and their cells began to rapidly expand and gain life once more. The formerly flat flooring was now growing with just a blink of an eye, turning into spikes that pinned the surprised men to their places.

None were hurt. But none of them could move now.

Taking that as her chance, Esher forced herself to get up, no matter how much it hurt and how her body refused to move the way she wanted it to. The soldiers were yelling at her and she didn't need to understand them to know that they were telling her to stop. She didn't want to listen. She wanted to get out of there.

Where was everyone? Their leader Solomon, her somewhat sister Sheba? Her auntie Falan and her husband Wahid? Where was Ithnan, and Setta? Where was Ugo? Where was Arba?

It was getting harder to breathe, panic once again weighing heavily on her heart. She tried her hardest to keep them at bay, but the tears wouldn't stop flowing. She felt so scared and so alone. Added to that was her limited mobility and it made things all the more worse than it was.

She got out of the room and in a hallway of sorts. More men were coming towards her and they didn't hesitate to charge at her. Taking a step back from fear, she activated her magic once again and did to them what she did to their comrades back in the room she was initially in. Esher knew the difficultly of performing magic without her staff but she didn't trust herself to keep her own body upright, much less a golden stave that was taller than her. So, she did what she could not to harm anyone. That wasn't her intention. She just wanted to render them immobile and she hoped that they would stop soon.

She just wanted to be left alone. To wonder where she can find her precious people. That was all.

Going past the bound men, she once again blocked their anger-filled voice out of her head and tried her best to move faster. She didn't want to encounter anymore people who intend to hurt her.

As soon as she went through one final door, the world outside greeted her. The rain was pouring and there were more people waiting outside for her. Fed up, she couldn't help the frustration that bubbled up inside her. And along with it boiling over was her magic.

"Leave me alone!"

She covered her face as she yelled out, her Magoi mixing with those from the unfamiliar fauna around her. The first to react were the wood from the trees as they hastily scampered across the ground and block the waves of men that were in the middle of charging towards her. It stopped them in their tracks. There was a commanding voice that rang through the air and Esher flinched.

With tears still pouring and mixing with the rain on her face, the woman did her best to hastily get away from everyone.

From behind her, two men vaulted over the now calmed down growth of the trees' branches.

---

For the first time, Hakuren has a serious expression on his face. Hakuyuu, the older of the two, silently noted as they nimbly went through the spikes that the woman had caused in her hysteria. He knew that the mysterious woman his brother has unearthed was special of sorts. Maybe even magical in that sense if she really was as old as everyone had claimed.

Well, he was right. And it was a lot more trouble that they had initially thought. Perhaps sending soldiers to take care of her and calm her down wasn't a good idea because of what she did. And with her yelling out something that neither he nor his brother had ever heard of before, it was safe to assume that she was foreign of origin too.

That being said, the woman that he was thinking of was currently given a helping hand by a willow tree so that she could get over the walls and into the woods behind it. She was slow and seemed to be having trouble walking but with the help of magic, things were getting a bit easier to do. He tsk'ed to himself, annoyed.

"Are you having fun, brother?" Hakuren offhandedly commented as they vaulted over the Palace walls, landing on their feet in a crouching position.

"Do I look like I'm having 'fun', you idiot?" He scowled at the other making the other raise his brows, slightly amused.

He waved his hands around, mocking, "Oh no, I'm so scared."

"Don't make me hit you instead."

He immediately shut up.

Hakuyuu then went onwards where he thought the woman had went to, his brother following closely behind him. They exchanged running in favor of walking instead. They had lost her when she had crossed the Palace walls, so they needed to take their time and survey their surroundings to find her. And judging by the scraps of cloth on the branches and bushes, it seemed that she went north-west.

It didn't take them long to find her. Alongside the obvious markers that showed where she went, her sobs also had a hand in helping them find her.

When they had reached where she was, the two of them frowned to themselves as they didn't see her anywhere. In front of them was a willow tree and they could hear her in it. They didn't speak but they did exchange glances, nodding to each other to show that they were aligned in the same thought.

Hakuren jumped up and grabbed a thick branch before he hauled himself up, nimbly climbing the tree. Meanwhile, Hakuyuu took his time walking around it and surveying the area. When he had come a full circle, his brother dropped down from the leaves and they shook their heads at each other.

Despite the cries, she was nowhere in sight.

Admittedly, they were back to square one.

The second prince scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to do while the older of them two went into deep thought.

The woman was clearly someone who knows how to use magic. She can use nature from around her to attack or even defend herself. If that was the case then-

...

"Hakuren, stay here."

He blinked, watching as his older brother walked towards the tree. "Yuu?"

The first prince didn't say anything back to him and instead continued on his strides. He stopped just in front of it and placed his hand in the trunk and listened carefully. Sure enough, he could hear her clearly through the wood.

They didn't see her, but that was only because she had hidden herself inside of the tree.

Clever, was his thought giving a slightly amused smile. That was quickly wiped off as he thought of what to say.

Both of them didn't know how to use magic, and they even understood it less. There was no way for them to get to her unless they talked her out of it. And from what they had witnessed back there? It seems as if even talking wouldn't do them any good. They spoke different languages and neither of them understand each other.

What was he supposed to do?

Then again, it wouldn't hurt to try at least. And so, that's the decision he had decided on.

He took a deep breath... and started speaking.

---

Esher had been shaking badly, crying. She was inside of a tree she had come across, having crawled at the space in-between the trunk and closing it off behind her. There was nowhere else that she could hide. If there was one thing she was afraid off, it was having to hide in an unfamiliar territory, especially if it had belonged to an enemy.

The people back there... they looked just like any other human, but they spoke a language that she wasn't familiar with. She had never heard of tongue nor did it even sound like dialect. Not only that, but even the things that surround them are didn't look like anything she had seen before.

Their clothes, their language, their weapons, the armor they wore, their lack of Ruhk.

It all did not make any sense. Who are they and where had they been in the world?

She clung to herself more, trying to inch away from the unfamiliar wood touching her. It all feels so strange. It was unlike anything she touched before. Even her current clothing did not feel right on her skin. She wanted it off.

Her low Magoi reserves were also adding to her fear. The moment she had woken up, she had trouble trying to use magic. It didn't feel like she was receiving them from someone powerful anymore. Instead, she got most of it from her surroundings. That was a thought that scared her more.

Had God disappeared?

That heightened her suspicion that maybe, she wasn't in her own world anymore but in a different one. And the thought of having been alone in this unfamiliar world without any of her loved ones was something that she hadn't like.

Where is everyone?

Then... as if someone answered, a voice sounded from the other side of the trunk.

It was such a soothing voice, as if beckoning her to stop her crying. And it was successful in doing so because her tears ceased and she looked up at the wood in front of her. She could see the Ruhk of the person, faint it may be against the dark that surrounded her. It was merely a silhouette but aside from the person, it was only him and one other who stood farther back behind.

They didn't feel threatening, nor did it seem like they were going to hurt her.

But calmer as she may be, she was hesitant in leaving still. She still didn't understand them, but their voice felt as if it was comforting her and she merely listened.

It oddly reminded her of someone.

Suddenly, as if a memory that she had long forgotten suddenly came back to her.

---

"Esher."

"..."

"Esher, come on. It's okay."

She still didn't answer. Instead, she indignantly made the trunk of the tree grow bigger outwards in an attempt to block the other person behind the wood.

"Dammit, you."

It didn't work. She could still hear him so just made do with personally blocking her own ears with her hands.

The person from the other side let out a heavy sigh before he spoke again. This time, his tone wasn't nagging like earlier. Though she still did her best to tune him out, glaring at her own feet.

"It's alright," he said, making her flinch. It only made her more determined to not hear anything that he had to say. But unfortunately, his words can still be heard through. "They never cared for you. Ever. All those things they were telling you were lies. You were being forced into following their orders."

"Shut up! Shut up!"

That's a lie. They told me I was family. They told me that if I did a good job and killed all of them, I was going to be family. They told me that.

"You were the only one left in that tower. All the children that grew up with you were told the same things yet when died, they were discarded. They would've done the same thing to you had your body also given up. You were nothing to them. They're liars."

She shut her eyes tighter as the memory of them throwing out her dead friends from atop the tower that she was in to the wild monsters below where they likely ate them. It was so horrible. In her heart, she knew that he was telling the truth, but she refused to believe it.

It can't be.

"I don't care! You don't know anything!" She yelled through her tears and he went quiet before he answered her again.

"No. I know because I was the same way."

A small gasp escaped her, and she looked at the wood separating the two of them with wide eyes. Through it, she could see the silhouette of the older boy, his own Magoi shone truthfully and unwaveringly at her.

"W-What..?"

"They told me the same lies. But used that against me to make me do their bidding. I killed countless of those with my own hands. Watch them with their own families and I took that same family away from them. I pitted a father against his own son, merely watching as he ate his own flesh and blood with tears pouring from his eyes."

Suddenly, the things that she took pride in doing came back to her. They had real families. They used to have feelings. They weren't savages. And yet... she mocked that very thing that she couldn't have and with false promises, destroyed it.

She was the most horrible person that could have existed. She was such a fool.

As if he could see her as well, he pressed his forehead in the only thing that separated them. "It's alright. You can never be forgiven but you can always atone like I did. Like everyone did."

For a much bigger reason, her tears started pouring from her eyes again and she kept her sobs from escaping her lips. The trunk slowly opened and once it was big enough, she couldn't hold herself back and wrapped her arms around him, her cries heard by everyone who watched from a far.

The older boy whose name was Solomon shushes her as he crouched down to hug her back. And with that same soothing voice, he told her that everything was alright.

---

That was all it took for her to come out.

With a small wave of her hand, the closed opening of the tree parted, and light shone through. The person on the other side stepped back and she took that chance to go outside. She can feel her tears coming back again, and she tried her hardest not to let them fall.

But that proved to be impossible as right in front of her stood Solomon, smiling patiently at her just like all those years ago. His image flickered and a different man with the same smile instead stood in his place but Esher hadn't minded.

With a heavy heart and tears flowing from her eyes like rivers, she crossed the gap between the two of them. In the hug, her cries grew louder, and man merely hugged her back, whispering soothing words to her as he patted slowly patted her back.

She didn't need to have the same tongue to realize that he was telling her that everything was going to be okay.

And she clung tight to those words like she did with Solomon all those years ago.

---

The woman's hold on him slowly loosened before he had her in his arms, her eyes closed. It seems that all that had happened made her pass out from exhaustion. Hakuyuu couldn't blame her. If he had been sleeping for maybe hundreds and hundreds of years, waking up expecting to see everything and everyone you know, only to be disappointed by the harsh reality, he would definitely be in the same shoes as her.

He couldn't even fathom how much stress this person was experiencing.

"Hakuren." He looked over his shoulder to his brother who immediately jogged towards him. He took the sleeping woman from him and carried her in her arms.

"She looks so tired," was his first comment.

The first prince looked at her tear-streaked face with pity and agreed with his brother. "She does. Let's bring her back."

"Yes, sir."

If he had a free arm, he would've mocked saluted but what can he do? He had a woman in his hold at that moment. He couldn't just drop half her body. That would be rude. So instead, he just watched as his older brother started walking towards the way they had come from.

He looked at the woman again and he chuckled. Well, aren't you a little troublesome, Nemurihime?

With that, he marched after his brother and back to the Palace.

---

The woman woke up a little over an hour later. She startled the two princes, who decided to watch over her for the time being, as she immediately sat up in the bed. She was breathing heavily and was covered in sweat; her face had this scared look on it, as well.

Hakuren, who was nearest and had no sense that he should stay away from someone so dangerous, made his way towards her and calmed her down. She was tense at his touch first, but noting that he didn't intend to hurt her, she slowly relaxed her shoulders.

Though she made no sound that indicated that she wanted to talk back to him and his soothing words. They couldn't communicate at the first place so there was really no need for him to do that. But it worked well for his brother and he's still alive, isn't he? So really, he could at least try and do the same thing, even if only the nice gesture went through.

Meanwhile, Hakuyuu called for nearby servants to get ahold of the doctors and Koumei. Now that she was awake, they could perhaps check if there is anything they could see that was unusual from her that they didn't see find while she was in slumber. Especially since she can use magic.

Really, a tiny woman like her was able to grow plant life from around her to ginormous sizes. What else is she capable of? If there comes a time that he gets to speak with her on the same tongue, that would be one of the things he would like to inquire about.

Scary and powerful magic are, he didn't believe that they existed outside of clairvoyance magic. So to suddenly see such a display from the woman when she had just woken up... well, it was alarming. But also very interesting.

When Koumei had arrived with his group of doctors and monks, they immediately set to work in diagnosing her. She looked a little stressed at what they were doing, especially since they had just come in a large group and are fussing over her, but nonetheless, she let them do their work, not answering even when they had talked to her.

When they were done, all they could say was that it was a miracle that she was awake.

"A miracle?" the two princes shared a look of confliction.

"Yes, your Highnesses. She's been asleep for a very long time and her muscles are having trouble in functioning properly but aside from that, she's very much alive." Koumei tapped the tip of his fan against his lips, frowning and saying to himself, "It was a wonder as to how she stayed alive after all those years."

Ah, that explains why she looked like she had been limping and had been relying on the wall and her creations to run away earlier.

The royal monks and doctors excused themselves from the royalties in the room and all three of the Ren glanced at her as she just stared in her cup of tea, unmoving.

"What should we do with her?" Hakuren was first to ask, making the teen and his brother mull over it for a bit.

Yes, what can they do with her? All they know is that she's dangerous with her ability to use magic and that they spoke very different languages. But aside from that, they know nothing else. Not even her origins. Should they bring her back to whence she had been found?

Doing so would mean that someone as troublesome as her would be out of their hands but then comes the question as to what she would do there. Would she try and go back to another hundreds of years of sleep? Or live off of the lands in this unfamiliar time?

There was also the possibility that an enemy may get ahold of her and use her to their advantage. She was found near Mukuge's city after all. It wouldn't be wrong if they assumed that they would use her magic for their own gain instead.

So without much further thought on it, Hakuyuu made a decision.

"We keep her here."

That made Hakuren and Koumei look at him in surprise. 'So it's like that, huh?' was the expression both of them wore. He was a little offended by it, as if he meant harm with his words.

"We have no other choice. It's either that, or we bring her back to where you found her." He directed that last part to his brother who gave him a small sheepish smile. He was initially responsible for her, having been the one that found her and brought her back to their Palace. She was in too deep now to be let go.

And to be frank, the reasoning for the first prince's decision was clear as day.

They didn't want to lose against Kai. With the woman coming to their side, they might just turn the tide against them and that was something they couldn't afford to risk. Not when they're so close to winning.

So with that, all three of them collectively looked at her who looked back at them uncomfortably, unknowing of the decisions they had made regarding her.

Once again, fate had done her work and the country of Kou gained an unseen ally within the woman with a foreign origin and tongue.

---

A/N: Hi! Back with a new update! I'm sorry for not updating for almost a year and a half now. School got in the way and I kind of lost the urge to write so I took a while. I still won't be able to update consistently but I hope to at least do so once a month. I'm pre-writing some chapters right now so that I get to update consistently for at least two months but it would take a while to finish. That's why I'm dropping a new chapter so that you guys won't have to wait with nothing.

Uhhh... please be good to me and I'm sorry again for not updating. :((

On another note, tell me what you think of these new chapter! It's a bit heavy but things would hopefully turn a bit better before it turns into actual angst;;