Umi sat down in the rich green grass, smoothing her white skirt. "I hope I don't get grass stains on this," she murmured, folding her legs to one side.

"It's not like you can't wash them out," Hikaru replied. She had her legs crossed and was resting her elbows on her knees, leaning forward slightly with her arms folded. "And I'd say it's worth it to sit out here in the sunshine."

"Hai." Fuu spun a kisahele in her fingers as she sat facing her two friends. "It is a beautiful day." She smiled, staring at the viridescent blossom. "Nicer than most days at home, really."

"Oh!" Her blue-haired friend waved her hand around, getting their attention as she remembered something. "Did you hear that horrible storm a few nights ago?"

Hikaru nodded vigorously, replying, "Yeah! Two days before we came. It woke me up, and Hikari kept scratching at the door. He was scared, too."

The blond girl nodded in agreement. "It was frightening," Fuu said, picking a petal off the kisahele. "It woke me up as well." She smiled a little. "I... wished Ferio was there to comfort me."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Umi grinned, and Fuu grinned back, attempting to throw one of the green petals at her friend, but it drifted to the ground before it even reached her. "Hey now! Hikaru, isn't Fuu mean?" There was no response. Umi turned to her redheaded friend. "Hikaru?"

She was staring past the bushes near them, her brow furrowed, her cranberry eyes slightly narrowed. Hikaru held up one hand, signaling for her friends to be quiet before she silently got to her hands and knees and crept across the grass.

Fuu and Umi watched in silence as Hikaru knelt behind the bushes, peering through them to the fountain on the other side. After a moment, she beckoned them to come over.

Her friends quietly sneaked over to her, crouching on either side of Hikaru. She nodded forwards slightly, casting her gaze between the bushes. Umi and Fuu followed her eyes to the fountain beyond them.

Lantis was standing on the stone circle around the fountain. Presea, her brown eyes narrowed in anger, had stepped up on the ledge at the edge of the pool where the water cascaded into so she could look the dark-haired man in the eye. She was speaking in a low voice, pointing her finger at him. The three girls in the bushes couldn't hear her words, but they could hear her tone of anger.

"... much longer!" the blond woman cried, raising her voice a bit. Lantis said something in return, his voice calm. Presea balked, then fiercely replied, "You don't know that!" Then she lowered her voice again, continuing for a few more moments. Her quiet tone grew angrier as she finished her statement. Then Presea stepped down from the ledge and turned to head down one path leading away from the fountain. Then she paused, turning around to face Lantis again, saying in a clearer voice, "And I expect you to keep it that way." Then she turned again and stalked off down the path, disappearing between two tall rows of bushes. Lantis stared after her a moment, looked up at the sky, and then headed away down a different path.

Umi turned to her two friends after Lantis had gone. "What was all that about?" she asked, her sapphire eyes wide.

"I don't know." Hikaru was still staring out at the fountain.

"I think Presea-san is keeping something from us," Fuu said in a quiet voice. Umi nodded silently in agreement as the blond girl continued. "It may just be me, but she has seemed a bit more quiet than usual lately."

Hikaru sighed softly, rising to her feet and brushing off her skirt. "I guess," she replied quietly. Her gaze drifted up to the sky, just as Lantis's had. Is Lantis hiding something, too? Why was he gone so long before? I wish I knew...

She giggled softly, touching the fingertips of her hands together lightly. "The time is drawing near," she said in a small voice, her mouth spread in a wide grin as she spoke. "It won't be much longer."

Climbing out of her chair, she crossed the dim room to the opposite wall. She smiled into the mirror that hung on the stone wall, tilting her head to one side, and said, "Spirit of my mother, please show your face."

Her reflection in the mirror shimmered, shifting out of view as the smokey face of a young woman took its place. She smiled faintly, her cerulean eyes rather sad. "Why have you contacted me, my dear?"

"It's almost time, Mama," she replied. "It's almost time."

"Will you make it?" her mother asked, resting her fingertips on her side of the glass.

She nodded. "Oh yes, Mama. I have the aid of you all, and I have been taught well." She smiled, reaching out and touching the cool glass of the mirror where the transparent fingers of her mother were. "Tell Papa I said hello."

"I will. Now go rest, my dear. You must be tired from all that work."

"Yes, Mama." She watched as the ghostly woman's face faded and her own reflection took its place again. "Thank you, Mama." Then she turned on her heel, heading to the corner of the small room to climb into bed and sleep.

Fuu pushed a small piece of bread around on her plate with her fork, sliding it in the sauces left over from dinner. She stared at the little chunk of bread that was still a little warm, with that fruit spread Umi liked and little flecks of spices on it, half-listening to the conversation at the table. An eruption of giggles caused her to shift her gaze from the bread and glance up at the other girls at the table.

"The expression on your face was priceless," Waemi managed through her giggles, her hand on the shoulder of Larumele, whose face was red as she cast her blue eyes downward at the tabletop.

"Your eyes got huge and you have this goofy grin on your face," Yeiry added, grinning.

Fuu blinked, setting down her fork. "Gomen ne, Yeiry-san, I missed it. What happened?"

"Oh, it was great, Fuu-san!" Waemi was grinning, patting Larumele on the back. "Kujin walked by, and Nobyre-chan said, 'Hi, Kujin-san'. And then he smiled and said hi back, then he looked at Larumele-chan and nodded and smiled and said, 'Konban wa, Larumele.' And she grinned at him with this really funny expression and went, 'Hi, K-Kujin-san!'" Waemi pinched Larumele's cheek. "You were so cute!"

Fuu smiled as Umi leaned across the table, chiding, "Oh, don't tease Larumele, Waemi." The black-haired girl responded, "Oh, but it's so fun, Umi-san!" as Larumele glared at her.

Shaking her head with a small smile on her face, Fuu watched as Larumele and Waemi began bickering back and forth across the table. Yeiry flicked a crumb at them, which seemed to be a habit of hers, as she told them they were being childish, to which her two friends stuck their tongues out at her and then continued their argument.

Fuu was about to stab the leftover bread on her plate with her fork and choke it down, because although she wasn't hungry, she knew she should try to finish her dinner. However, before she could even lift her fork, the blond girl felt a sudden pain like someone had slammed a rock against the back of her head.

"Fuu-san!" Nobyre and Hedaimo cried in unision as Fuu doubled over in her chair, clutching her head in her hands. Umi leapt to her feet, dashing around the side of the table and bending over at her friend's side, her hands on Fuu's shoulders as she tried to help her sit up. "Fuu!"

Her friend's emerald eyes were squeezed tightly shut as the pain surged through her head. Her ears were ringing along with the pain, as though something heavy had impacted with her head, but she hadn't felt anything touch her, just the pain.

Then, as Fuu gritted her teeth and clutched her forehead, she saw Presea. Fuu tried to ignore it, to just force the pain away, but she found herself being sucked into the image.

There was a field. A huge field, extending as far as Fuu could see in all directions except one. In front of her, instead of more tall grass and wildflowers, in place of the bumblebees and the perfect blue sky, was solid blackness. Shadows took the place of everything else.

Presea stood between Fuu and the ebony wall. The blond woman was facing the blackness, and Fuu could see that she was trembling as the shadows rippled slightly and a small figure emerged.

In silent helplessness, Fuu watched as a little girl, no older than eight or nine, stepped out from the shadows and paused in front of Presea. The girl had short brown hair cut just beneath her ears, and her wide, red eyes stood out on her pale face. She was wearing a yellow dress that laced up in the front with long, cuffed sleeves and a hemmed skirt that touched the toes of her black shoes. She had on a tan tunic with black trim, tied at the waist with a strip of leather. At her left side, hanging off the leather belt, the little girl wore a plain leather pouch, identical in drab brown color to the belt.

The small girl didn't speak, but instead pulled the drawstrings on the pouch at her side, opening it. She pulled out a tan strip of cloth like a ribbon, then closed the pouch again, tying the drawstrings. She tucked her hair behind her ears, then tied the tan cloth around her head like a headband.

For whatever reason, this seemed to satisfy the little girl. She smoothed out her skirt, then walked up to Presea, who was still standing and staring into the shadows, trembling.

The brown-haired girl paced slowly around Presea, resting her right elbow in her left hand, her right hand curled in a loose fist under her chin with her first finger and thumb resting on the pale skin of her chin. She traced the same circular path around the tall woman for a short while, then stopped in front of her. The small girl reached out, taking both of Presea's hands in hers.

"Papa is unhappy, Farl Presea," said the girl in a small voice that was, to Fuu, surprisingly strong. "Papa is also angry. Papa wants to happy again, because Papa is in the happy place with Mama and all the people they love except me. So I have to help Papa and Mama be happy." She smiled, and Fuu shivered as she saw that it was a wicked looking smile. "You will help me help Papa and Mama be happy, Farl Presea."

"How?" Presea's voice was shaky, quiet.

"Blood."

"Nani?" Presea's coffee-brown eyes widened as she stared down at the little girl. "Blood?"

The child nodded gleefully. "Blood will make Papa and Mama happy. Lots of blood and lots of tears and lots of pain."

"My blood?"

"Oh no, Farl Presea. Never your blood." The small girl grinned wider. "But you will make the blood flow."

Presea shook her head. "I don't want to!"

"You do not have a choice. Papa knows. He told me. I will make the pain in your head, and you will make the blood flow.

"Now come with me, Farl Presea." The crimson-eyed child released one of Presea's hands but held the other one tighter, leading her towards the darkness.

Presea's eyes were wide with fear. "I don't want to go!"

"You will! If you do not come now, Farl Presea, I will make the pain in your head."

"I don't understand you!"

The little girl giggled. "Very well, Farl Presea. Very well." Then she let go of the blond woman's hand and skipped through the brightly colored flowers as though she were the happiest child in the world, disappearing into the cold shadows.

"Presea!" Fuu cried as the image faded. She leapt up from the table, pushing Umi away and racing out of the room.

She ran through the kitchen, out into the hall, and down the wide hallway. Fuu ran past the bedroom she shared with Umi and Hikaru and past the dining hall. She ran until she reached the main doors of the castle. Then Fuu dragged one of the heavy doors open and ran outside into the evening sunlight.

The blond girl stumbled down the marble steps, speeding down a long stone pathway towards the gardens she and Ferio liked to spend their afternoons in. She ran between the rows of flowers and vines crawling on the walls. Then she was past the gardens, running through the tall rows of bushes twice as high as her own height. She could see the fountain where Presea had been talking with Lantis that morning.

Fuu finally passed out of the bushes, slowing down and stopping on the round stone walkway that circled the big fountain. She was panting now --- she didn't normally run so much or so fast.

Not really knowing why, nor caring why, Fuu stepped over the marble ledge, getting into the knee-deep water. She stepped off of the small underwater ledge, and the water came all the way up her thighs to her hips, nearly to her waist.

Fuu dragged herself through the water, her billowy skirt slowing her down. She walked beneath the falling water, soaking her hair and the rest of her sky-blue dress. Her jade eyes were brimming with tears as she passed the cascade, entering the chilly shadows cast by the setting sun beneath the huge overhead bowl from which the water spilled. There was a ledge about three feet wide that jutted out from the pillar that held up the bowl, acting as a base, and Fuu hoisted herself up on the cold stone. She sat down, leaning back against the pillar and drawing her knees to her chest, hugging them with her arms. Fuu lowered her face to her knees, closing her eyes and shivering with cold as her quiet sobs were drowned out by the falling water.

When he had been told that Fuu had run away suddenly, Ferio had wanted to go find her immediatly. However, Hikaru and Umi had told him that she would be back by morning, he knew they were right. They both knew Fuu as well as he did, and she was not the kind to run away from anything. "She probably wanted to think about something," Umi said. "You know she won't go far, either." Still, Ferio felt an uneasiness in her stomach as he tried to sleep, and he decided to get up early to wait.

True to the promise he had made himself, Ferio awoke at dawn with only a few hours of sleep. After he had dressed, the golden-eyed prince found himself feeling antsy, so he headed out into the gardens for a walk.

As he wandered through the rows of brightly colored blossoms that had just opened up with the sun, Ferio stopped in front of one of the walls. There were dark green vines crawling across it, covered in pastel blue flowers as big as his hand. He lightly touched one of the long, thin petals that curved out and downward from the cup-like shape of the flower, then gently plucked it from the vine. He would give it to Fuu when he saw her.

Ferio continued walking down the stone path, the morning sun warm on his face as it cleared the dew from the flowers and their leaves. He left the flower gardens and began walking down between the high rows of bushes.

Spinning the blue flower between his thumb and middle finger absently, Ferio's amber gaze drifted to the brightening sky as his footsteps on the cold stone echoed slightly in the quiet morning. The only other sound was that of the birds chirping in the trees at the edges of the gardens, and those were far away.

He continued down the path until her emerged from between the rows of bushes. The white marble fountain, which was almost twice as tall as himself, cascaded water down from the bowl supported by the large pillar in the middle, the water reflecting the early sun as it poured into the pool below. The reflection of the sunlight was bright, making Ferio squint as he walked over and sat down on the ledge at the edge of the pool.

The prince sat down cross-legged on the ledge, staring into the falling water, his eyes squinted against the sun. Resting his chin in his hand, his fingers curled against his jaw, Ferio saw a patch of blue beyond the cascade, standing out against the white of the marble.

Fuu was wearing a blue dress yesterday. Immediatly, Ferio slid off the ledge into the fountain pool, wading through the deep water. He passed underneath the shower from above, emerging on the other side.

Fuu was curled up in a little ball, asleep on the base of the pillar. Her hair was damp and her sky-blue dress was wet as well, and she was shivering slightly in her sleep. Ferio climbed up on the base next to her, pulling her up and holding her cold body close to his. "Fuu!" He shook her shoulder slightly to wake her.

The blond's emerald eyes opened slowly. "Hm?"

Ferio held her close to him, both of them wet. "Fuu, you're soaked! Why on earth did you walk through the fountain?"

"I don't know." Fuu drew her legs up to her torso, leaning against Ferio. He was wetter than she was, since he had just been through the water and she had dried a little overnight, but he was warmer than her all the same.

Ferio sighed, rubbing her back as she snuggled up to him. "You must be freezing." Fuu nodded. "You were out here all night." He put his hands on her shoulders, holding her away from him so he could look at her face. "You're so pale. Why didn't you come back in?"

"I don't know..." Tears welled up in Fuu's sad eyes as she gazed up at him. "Ferio, I'm afraid."

"Of what?" Ferio hugged her close again, comforting her. "Cephiro's a safe place. Even if it wasn't, I'd protect you. Nothing can hurt you."

Fuu shook her head, her eyes squeezed shut. "You don't understand. Presea-san... Presea-san is going to kill someone."

"Nani?!" Ferio looked down at her. "What are you talking about?!"

Fuu sniffed slightly, grasping a fold of his shirt in her hand. "I got a headache last night at dinner, and then I saw... I don't know. A big field with a wall of shadows on one side. Presea-san was there. A little girl came out of the shadows. She told Presea-san... She said said, 'Papa is unhappy, Farl Presea... Blood will make Papa happy. You will make the blood flow.'

"Then she told Presea-san that she would make her kill someone. Not in those words, but that's what she said.

"She took Presea-san's hand and told her to go back with her into the shadows. Presea-san said she wouldn't, so the little girl said, 'Very well, Farl Presea,' and went back into the shadows."

Fuu put one hand to her chin, thinking. "It was very strange... The girl said Presea-san's name in almost every sentence she spoke, and she always addressed her by title." The blond girl glanced up to see Ferio looking at her. "This sounds crazy, doesn't it?"

Ferio nodded, but he smiled a little. "Yeah, it sounds a little crazy. But I believe you."

"Really?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

Fuu shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose it just sounds so odd... Even to myself."

"Well, I don't know whether what you saw was true or not," Ferio said, "but I do know that you need to warm up and get some proper rest. You couldn't have slept well out here."

She smiled. "I did not."

"Well then, we'll have to get you back inside." Ferio scooped Fuu up in his arms, climbing off the ledge. He leaned over, shielding her as he walked under the falling water, then carried her out of the fountain. He set her down on the stone walkway and picked up the blue flower that he had dropped there. "When you get back, get yourself a hot bath, something to eat, and then go back to bed, okay? Here, this is for you," he continued, handing her the cup-shaped flower. "It's called a fylen. I would've picked you a kasihele, but I didn't see any."

Fuu smiled, holding the fylen delicately between her hands. "I love it."

He smiled in return. "Good. I thought you would."

Ferio put one arm around her small waist, resting the other hand on her arm closest to him as they walked back up the long stone walkway, back up to the castle.