When they had brought her back to their base, Esher had to be dragged by her hand. She remembered that Arba had a brief displeased expression on her face before she smiled at her glaring eyes; softly, carefully.

"We won't hurt you. This will be your new home now. I promise."

Even so, she didn't believe her. How could she anyway? She had no idea what 'home' meant, or rather, what it meant for people like her and others. She wouldn't have known that it was a place that was unlike the church where she grew up in. Neither would she have known that it would lead to her having a family.

So in all stubbornness, she planted her feet on the ground, making tiny sprouts grow at an alarming rate until they held her firmly. Still, the woman only held her hand firmly and gently. She didn't tug on her or forced her to come along. Instead she waited patiently for the girl to show hesitation in her eyes as she tried to figure out what the other was up to.

In a way, you could say that she was afraid of what might happen. The church definitely taught her that any defiance was rewarded with punishment. But after a moment, there was none that came her way.

So in a small voice, she asked the woman, "Are you not going to punish me?" To which Arba responded with a look of surprise in her face.

"No," She went down into a crouch and held Esher's hand in both of hers and assured her, "We don't do that here. And we never will."

There was sincerity in her brown eyes. It was the same one that she had seen in the other's eyes when they had taken her from the Gunud. Back then, they promised her a warm place to live, away from that cold tower and away from the people who raised her to be so spiteful of others. All they wanted was for her to be given a chance to start repenting for her 'wrong doings', they said.

So even when her mind was telling her otherwise, she couldn't turn away from these warm hands that hold her. It was so much more different from 'them.' Slowly the vines that tightly held on to her feet retreated into the ground until she was free once more.

Arba smiled at her and rose to her feet. When she tugged on the girl's arm, there wasn't any resistance to her, and she silently followed after her.

"Let's introduce you to the others and then we'll eat something, okay?"

"...un."

---

She had woken up deep into the night. For some reason, she found herself back at the place where she had wanted to escape from. The room was the same as the first one she had been on, the only difference being the lack of disfigured wooden spikes she had grown. It seems they placed her on a different room. But that only retained her attention for a few moments before she had went into a daze.

She merely stared at nothing and she didn't move as well. She was still processing what had happened to her, confusion swirling heavily in her chest that it was making it hard to breathe. It was a wonder as to how she hadn't broken down yet. Maybe it had been because she cried what was left of her tears yesterday. And even if she hadn't, she wouldn't have noticed it either way in her daze.

Time passed, and it was long after dawn. She found herself staring at the blue sky outside, for some reason looking for the familiar three suns to greet her but it didn't. There was only a lone sun in the sky and it blinded her for a moment that it made her look away.

That was one of the obvious signs that she wasn't home anymore, wasn't it? The absence of two of the tree suns? Not only that, but the fauna around her as well, and the white birds that she can now see. It had been a theory from Ugo that there exists a dimension in which magoi can be physically seen in the form of birds. It hadn't existed then but here, they do. With a slight call, they come towards her and land in her out reached hand.

This world was utterly different and had she not been riddled with anxiety and worry for the people she had left, she would probably be one to go out and learn more about this strange new world.

Even so, she cannot stay cooped up like she was right now. As much as she wanted to stay where she was and just curl into herself, drowning in her sadness, she knew that it wouldn't be good for her mental-wise. It would be better to exercise her muscles as well. It still took a lot of effort to move them when she had stood up, but she believed that in time, even the pain of moving would ease up. The thought of being able to move like before and even train was enough to lift her spirits, if even for just a little bit.

So, with much difficulty, she navigated out of the room she was in and out into the gardens where she ignored the soldiers that tried to stop her.

---

It had been a peaceful morning when the first princess of Kou had woken up. She had gotten up at the birds' wonderful singing, having had a good night's rest, so needless to say, Hakuei was quite chipper. Ah, she felt that nothing could ruin her good mood.

"Good morning, Princess Hakuei," the female servants had greeter her when she permitted for them to enter and she returned the greeting in kind.

"Good morning!"

Her breakfast was then served which consists of a light meal and accompanied by tea right after, then she was dressed so that she'll be ready for a day lessons. But before she met with them, she stopped in her walk to look on curiously at the garden below her. In the far distance of the north garden, she could see soldiers congregating at one spot, surrounding someone but not quite coming near. It was as if they were afraid of the person but cannot disobey orders to let them be.

She cocked her head to the side and casted an inquiring look at her head lady-in-waiting. "Do we have a guest?" She had asked and she noted how the maids behind the lady shared looks in their bowing state. For a moment, she figured they hadn't a clue but then the older woman spoke.

"Yes, Young Princess. I believe his Highness, Prince Hakuren, had brought our guest back from his victory in battle."

"Oh, I see."

Hakuei looked back at the crowd and pursed her lips, thinking, then after a moment she resumed her walk. But this time, she had turned the other way.

"Princess?"

"I am just having a look," she assured them, but the protest had continued.

"It is dangerous, Princess Hakuei. And Prince Hakuyuu had asked of me to keep you away from our... guest."

The insinuation hadn't escaped her but she ignored it anyways, continuing on her way. "It will be alright. I have faith in our soldiers. And if it's brother you are worried about, then I will face him myself." Humming slightly, she added, "I am in the mood to cook anyway."

Those magical words was all the maid servants needed to hear before they willingly backed away, albeit a little nervously. Their first princess is incredibly notorious for the art she makes in the kitchen. So much so that they hadn't accompanied her inside, even when their cooks immediately evacuated the space and left their oblivious princess by her lonesome.

After quite a bit of waiting, Hakuei left her sanctuary, holding a tray in her small hands with the food she had made set a top of it neatly. In other cases, the maid servants would be the one left to carry such things but when it came to their princess, they let the girl handle it by herself. Not that she had minded. Actually, she much prefers it that way, unknowingly sparing the servants the horrors of her art.

Perhaps all the more surprising fact was that Hakuei was immune to her own poison. Briefly, one of the maids wondered whether that immunity applies to other poisons as well.

When they had come near the crowd, it seems that the situation was more dire than they had thought from when they had been watching from afar. Hakuei's lady-in-waiting had to raise her voice to distract the soldiers enough to acknowledge the princess.

"Princess Hakuei!"

---

In the western part of the palace, things were a lot more peaceful that morning. Hakuryuu, having actually gone to his first lesson without any trouble, was still distracted. See, his older brother Hakuren had been up earlier than he due to his training, and when he had been done, the first thing he did was sought his little brother out. And when he found him, he made sure that they played, regardless of whether or not his tutor expressed his displeasure.

"Prince Hakuren, please behave yourself!" The older man shook his fist in the prince's direction from where he still sat, watching in irk as the youngest was thrown in the air higher than the last. "The young prince mustn't be disturbed!"

"Geez, calm down, old man. You've taught me the same things you're teaching little Ryuu here. And I must say, I'm having a great time not applying them to my royal life."

"Mathematics is supposed to be applied to everyday life!"

"And yet the only thing that matters is whether you know how to add them together when you're cutting down enemies or subtracting when you lose one of your men."

"Prince Hakuren!"

It looked like the other was about to pop a major vein, and the prince laughed jovially at the thought. He still hadn't forgotten the pain he had gone through under his tutelage and he wasn't about to forget it now.

Hakuryuu, ever the naïve child that he is, was only ever focused on whether or not his older brother threw him high enough.

"Higher brother Ren! Higher!"

"Right'o!"

And he was thrown just as requested.

"Prince Hakuren! Trouble!"

"Wah!"

He barely caught his brother when the shout echoed in the yard. He calmed his heart for a moment, no doubt having flashbacks to that one time their older brother Hakuyuu nearly beat him half to death for nearly failing to catch an airborne three year old Hakuei. If he was caught doing the same thing to their brother, then he should be prepared to run very, very fast.

He grimaced slightly before he shifted from his perch on the wooden railing to address the soldier who had run up to him.

"What is it?"

The soldier took a brief moment to catch his breath before he answered, "Princess Hakuei is with Nemurihime. I'm afraid she refuses to retreat to safety."

Despite the lack of change in his expression, Hakuren was very much on the edge.

Ah, well... I expected her to sit still but I guess that's not possible.

In that next moment, he had placed Hakuryuu on his feet and beckoned him back to his seat in the middle of the open study hall. He matched the young boy's worried expression with his usual smile, crouching down to match his height.

"Hakuryuu, I'll be going away for a bit. It seems your sister is in need of saving from brother Ren."

His lighthearted tone hadn't eased the boy; if he even did, it was only slightly.

"Will she be okay?"

"Of course, she will be! I'll be there after all!"

"O-Okay..."

He ruffled his brother's hair, messing his bangs, before he stood back up and jumped over the railing. He turned to the soldier.

"Well then, lead the way."

"Yes, prince!"

---

He was greeted by commotion.

The soldiers that had gathered circled around Nemurihime, postures stiff and on guard. They had their weapons drawn. The air was noisy with orders for the woman to get back inside, and amongst the noise was concern for his younger sister to retreat to safety.

But she refused to listen.

It was only when Hakuren broke through the soldiers to get to the middle did people acknowledged his presence.

"Prince Hakuren!"

Having heard that, the tiny princess turned to her brother in surprise.

"Brother Ren!"

He had a sort of exasperation showing on his face as he addressed everyone in the vicinity.

"Hey now, what's all this commotion about? Haven't Prince Hakuyuu told the lot of you not to stress out our Nemurihime here?"

Others made to explain while others hadn't bothered and instead went quiet, knowing he had been right.

"B-But prince, her presence can cause harm and—"

Hakuren tutted at the brave soul, shaking his head disapprovingly, "Ah, but so long as she's behaving, it should be okay, right?"

He ignored the other excuses that followed after, instead walking past his sister and crouching infront of the woman who was sitting on the ground. She had her arms wound around herself, tiny plant sprouts growing around her. Knowing what she had been capable of just yesterday, he had no doubt those plants weren't just decorative.

Regardless, he wasn't worried. He reached out a hand to her, catching her attention and making her look up from where she was intent on staring at the ground.

The moment their eyes met, he saw her blue eyes flash with recognition.

Immediately, the plants she grown around her stopped moving threateningly.

She remembered him.

"Hey there, Nemurihime. You're quite the rulebreaker, aren't you? Even though you're not supposed to leave your room, you still insisted on going outside."

It didn't look like she was listening to him, much less having understood what he said, so he shrugged his shoulders and took the hand that was hesitating on touching him with so he can pull her to a stand.

She did it with much difficulty, clutching to his sleeve.

Seeing as it seems there was nothing to worry about, Hakuei approached with her tray of food in hand. And much like her brother, ignored the concerns from her ladies-in-waiting.

Now, Hakuren may be a tad mischievous and in other circumstances, he would have stayed back and watched as things unfolded. But maybe it was because he had seen their guest cry already that he was reluctant to see it again.

He wasn't as heartless as his older brother after all.

He took a step back, making the woman do the same out of confusion.

"Now, now Hakuei. We don't know whether she'll eat yet or not."

"Oh, is she not fond of Kou cuisine?"

Hakuren didn't have the heart to tell her that it might not be that she isn't fond of them, more like she might have to forfeit her life after a single bite from that meal. So he kept his thoughts to himself and smiled slightly.

He made to tell the younger girl a 'maybe', when he felt a tug from where he was holding onto the woman. She was coming closer to his sister, her eyes fixated on the dish that was currently uncovered in her hands.

Hakuren kept his smile in his face, but what others did not see was him tightening his hold on Nemurihime's wrist and stopping her in her tracks.

She said something to him then, as she looked up at him with that uncomfortable look to her. But he didn't release her still.

He may have already seen her at her most vulnerable, but that doesn't mean that he fully trusts her not to hurt his family.

Taking the hint that she wasn't welcome to do as she pleases, she stopped struggling against his grip. But she remained glancing at the food Hakuei had made, her expression forlorn.

It took him a bit but he put two and two together, concluding that the meal was probably bringing back memories. Though what kind of memories that involved such 'artistic' cooking, he did not know.

He sighed.

"Fine, you win," he told the woman, who was confused as he suddenly raised his hands in the air in an 'I surrender' motion, letting her go.

He turned to the soldiers and Hakuei's ladies-in-waiting and waved them away. They did so with much hesitation. But it wouldn't be long before they were the only ones in the garden.

Hakuren turned to the woman. "Well, Nemurihime. You want to eat? Then go ahead." He gestured to his sister who patiently stayed in her place. Upon being gestured at, she smiled warmly at the stranger and held up her tray to the other.

---

It was just a hunch at first.

She first saw the contents of the meal when the girl who looked like the man from before had approached her. She was sitting at the grass, trying her best to calm herself as the men around her shouted at her. She couldn't understand them, and they couldn't understand her when she had pleaded to them to leave her alone.

But that girl approached her with neither fear nor hatred in her eyes. There was only concern.

Then one of the men who had comforted her prior arrived. And everyone bowed their heads to him, alluding that he was an important person. Seeing him brought relief to flow through her veins and it was enough to calm her down.

He was of a familiar presence and he had his hand reached out towards her. She brought her hand up, not knowing what to do. Should she take his hand, or refuse it? Would it be considered rude in that place?

As she was hesitating, he took initiative and grabbed her wrist to have her stand up with him. It was unexpected, and her knees almost buckled from the sudden movement. She was still unused to walking as of yet, much less standing up immediately. It was a good thing that he was with her, or else she would've fallen over.

She muttered a small 'thank you' despite him not hearing it.

The girl from before approached them and he took a step back, making her do the same. She looked up at him to see what was wrong, only to see that the white birds that surrounded him was tad nervous.

Esher wondered why, when her gaze was once again captured by the odd dish that the girl had in her hands.

It was so, so familiar.

Then suddenly, she remembered.

It was just like her cooking; Arba's.

She doubted that it would be the same as her's, but at that point, she would accept anything that even reminded her of her home. Anything.

Esher moved to accept the girl's offer, but a painful grip in her wrist stopped her from doing so. It was the man beside her. He didn't spare her a glance, his usual smile in his face, but there was a certain tinge of threat hanging in the air around him.

Don't you dare take one more step.

Biting her lip, she muttered a low 'sorry' and obeyed.

He may have helped in comforting her yesterday, but that doesn't mean that they were friends. She was still a stranger in that land and that meant that she wasn't free to do as she pleases.

And seeing as the girl has some resemblance to the man beside her, she assumed that she was family.

It was clear that Esher wasn't to come near her.

Just as she accepted such a thought, the grip on her wrist loosened, and he let out a sigh, raising both of his hands in the air. He said something then, as he gestured towards the girl.

Esher's heart pounded in her chest, as the girl went closer to hand her the meal. She didn't know why but it seems he had a sudden change in heart.

She took the food gratefully and slowly lowered herself to sit in the grass.

The wind was the only thing that she could hear at that moment, and nothing else. It was accompanied by soft whispers promising what once was.

There was hope blooming in her heart.

Maybe, just maybe, it was the same as her's. And Esher held tightly to the hope, even when it made tears quickly arise.

She did her best to blink them away, as she reached for the burnt bread, covered in what appears to be a purple liquid.

The moment she took a bite, a memory came rushing back.

---

It was just like then.

When Esher was brought inside of their headquarters, just like what the woman had promised, she was to eat first. She was sat down in a table covered with food, but the ones that were served to her were food that Arba had made herself.

It was weird, and she remembered wondering whether it was a foreign sort of food. She had never seen food with purple fumes after all. Even the sort of effect it had on the wood table, as if it was rotting right beneath the plates.

Those who saw the woman put those food down, immediately reacted and expressed their concerns.

"Oi, Arba! Are you serious right now!?"

"Don't do this to her so early on!"

"I say let her. Think of it as an initiation."

"Solomon!"

As a pink-haired girl rounded on the older boy for his comment, Arba assured the lot.

"Now now, she's new so she needs to eat."

"Are you seriously playing oblivious to your own pois—"

The green-haired boy stopped just as a loud crack resonated. He turned pale, before eventually nursing a bruise he had gotten on his foot. The others, all turned away nervously.

Esher remembered thinking how unusual they were, bickering yet keeping those same smiles in their faces. The air around them radiated of an unusual warmth, something she was unfamiliar of.

Chuckling, Arba turned to her to smile brightly.

Even she... looked warm.

"Young one, don't listen to them, okay? I'm a genius when it comes to cooking and they just refused to acknowledge it. Here," she took a plate of what appears to be a bread. She couldn't tell from the amount of burn that covered it. "Start with this, okay?"

She hesitantly accepted the food, and the moment she touched it, she felt the warmth that it radiated.

"It's not... cold?" She asked lowly. Arba was the only one who heard it and she was surprised about it.

"Oh, Esher..." She took her hand in between her's. Looking at her eyes, she saw pity in her brown eyes. And her hands were warm, just like before. "Don't think about them anymore, okay?"

The girl bit her lip, nodding her head slightly in hesitation before nonchalantly taking a bite of the bread in her hands.

A wave of flavours instantly flooded her tastebuds.

...none of them were considered good.

Even so, Arba looked at her in fascination, eagerly awaiting her verdict. Against that kind of look, she couldn't say how bad it actually tasted to her.

"..it's good..."

At that moment, the woman's smile was so incredibly big that she wondered whether her face would rupture from it. Outrage from the others in the table erupted, but Arba's gleeful laugh merely drowned them out.

"What do you mean!?"

"Oi oi, did you do something to this kid!? 'Fess up!"

"I hadn't done such a thing!"

But despite that, warmth was starting to envelop her chest. And Esher didn't know what to do about the good feeling, but shed a few tears from the confusion.

What was that? And why did it make her heart ache so much?

They noticed her silent tears as she started to eat the rest of the bread. Then the soup followed, then the meat, and so on.

They watched her with their own smiles in their faces, letting her eat as she pleased.

It felt like she was starting to warm up to them. And for the first time, it didn't seem like such a bad thing.

---

Silent sobs wracked her body, as the tears she held back started pouring. She took a bite again, and again, and again, and again. But no matter how much she ate the meal, it didn't taste any less like Arba's cooking.

It was the same.

It was just like her's.

"It's good," she said, as she tried in vain to stop her tears.

It hurt way to much, and yet she wanted to cling to that same nostalgia as if she was still that same kid who tasted Arba's cooking.

This meal... it was the only thing that reminded her so painfully of what she cannot have anymore.

She misses that place so, so much.

In her sobs, she felt a small hand slowly rub her back comfortingly. She looked up to see the girl from before, and she had a familiar comforting look to her. Her small hands wrapped around her own one.

And even that, she was brought back to that memory again.

Warmth.

How can such a stranger bring such familiarity to her?

She rested her free hand atop the girl's hands and gave her a smile in kind.

"Thank you."

Esher held on tightly to that warmth, as she shushes her tears with comforting words she couldn't understand.

---

"Take care now, Nemurihime!" Hakuren called out to the woman, as he turned to leave with his sister who waved goodbye instead.

It was sometime after she cried eating Hakuei's cooking. They brought her back to her room, just as the sun was at it's highest point, so that she could rest. After her tears had stopped, she didn't have enough energy to keep herself upright, so the prince had resorted to bringing her back. His sister was just accompanying them for the meantime, as she was in such a good mood after that morning's events.

Not that he could blame her. Someone out there actually exists who liked her cooking so much that they started crying about it.

...or at least, that's what it seemed to her. For the older prince, he can recognize tears made from sadness.

He found the earlier events unusual too. He had never seen cooking that are the likes of what his sister can make. How can such a unique talent be so familiar to that woman?

Hakuren inwardly sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

Looks like I'll be disturbing Hakuyuu. Let's just hope he's done with his business already.

Then, his sleeve received a gentle tugging, making him turn his attention to the girl beside him.

"What's wrong?"

She gently shook her head as she walked alongside him. "Nothing is wrong, Brother Ren. I was just wondering whether... um..." Her cheeks then turned a pink-ish hue and she stopped walking, worrying his brother about what was happening. Had he ever seen his sister look this embarrassed before?

He stopped and gawked at her.

"Is it spring already, Hakuei?"

She flailed her hands at him for the teasing comment, vehemently denying it.

"Brother!"

"I'm just surprised, sis. I've never seen you blush before!"

She stopped to fiddle with her skirt. "I was just a little happy. I've never had anyone finish what I had made and..."

He watched as her face turned redder the longer she talked. By the end of it, she was nothing but a tomato, it seems.

He best put a stop to it though, or he'll never hear the end of it from Hakuyuu if the other ever found out about this little crush. Besides, a crush on their dangerous guest? Anything that meant associating with the woman is an instant no.

Despite the fact that she had been pretty friendly so far.

He tutted at his sister, ruffling her hair and ruining it.

"Ah, but see, our dear brother Hakuyuu is not gonna be happy about this."

She looked up at him surprised. "Huh?"

"He finds her interesting you see."

The princess blinked at that, not understanding what he was implying. She looked at the ground in front of her, while he patiently waited for her to compose her thoughts.

"He likes her?"

Ahhh, well, I probably shouldn't even encourage this, huh?

"Oh he definitely does."

He's definitely gonna hang me for this.

But despite the very real threat that he might get killed by his own brother, he said nothing to correct his sister. Not when he wanted for her to take it in that way.

Hakuei started her walk slowly and Hakuren patiently kept in pace with her, silently apologizing to the princess while praying for his safety to all the deities he knows for his inevitable doom.

He then turned to glance the black braid hanging slightly from the ledge beside them.

"Well then..." he muttered to himself, starting to whistle a tune as he led his downtrodden sister away from the compound where they left Nemurihime.

---

She felt really drained.

When she was escorted back to her room, she could barely handle her own weight anymore. It might've been because of what she ate, but the recent ones she remembered eating from Arba barely harmed her than back when she was younger.

Still... despite having shed tears like that, inwardly, she had been very happy.

In her mind, all she could think of was, Finally, something familiar.

...

..

.

There might not be any way for her to return to whence she one belonged to but, as soon as she was fit again, she wanted to try and find a way herself. And that thought alone was enough to soothe her, if only for a bit.

She headed towards her bed and positioned herself under the covers as the temperature in her room slowly decreased.

Esher was set to take a rest but she suddenly sat up in alarm as a voice called out to her.

---

A/N: Hello! How are you all today/tonight?

I saw that this hasn't been updated since June of last year so I'm really sorry about that! I have been drawing quite a lot these days with barely any time for writing. I finished this chapter yesterday when I suddenly missed writing out of the blue. So in between drawings, I worked on this and some chapters for my other Magi story!

Also, I don't remember whether I've shared any drawings I've done for Esher yet so here's some that I drew last year! Lemme know what you think and if you want to see a full body drawing of her!

I love her, she's so precious. She just wants to see her family again. :((

Hope you enjoyed and see you on the next one!