December 10, 1999 — Kingdom of Eva — Úra — Eadres.
The sunlight invades a large hall rounded by windows that surround the environment. The place is filled with shelves as far as the eye can see, all full of books of the most diverse sizes and colors.
In one corner of this hall, at a wide table filled with scattered and stacked books, Helena is found, a woman with reddish hair, a little dark, wearing an unbuttoned dark gray blazer. Underneath, a white shirt and a fully dark gray jogger pants complete the look.
Sitting in a chair tilted backward, she is barefoot with her feet resting on the old table. On her face, glasses assist her in reading a thick brown book in her hands. Her greenish gaze runs from one side to the other through each line of each page.
Suddenly she feels the chair lose balance backward as if someone pulled it, making her lose all the posture she had until then.
"Seriously man! You totally zone out hehe..." Aruna, a young man with medium-length loose hair, wearing similar clothes, but a little darker, lets his short laugh echo through the environment.
He soon throws himself onto the table and sits cross-legged while observing her. The reddish strands, but lighter, stand out in the environment.
"What do you want?" She speaks while regaining her composure and gently throwing her legs back onto the table near him, returning her eyes to the book.
"Hey... do I need reasons to want to see my dear sister?" A slight smile appears on his face as he tilts his head slightly to one side.
"Did you hear the news?" He stretches his bare feet forward, giving a stretch.
"Spit it out Aruna!"
"Leila is dead!"
"..."
Her pupils dilate and her hands tremble minutely to the point that the book does not even move.
"I thought you should know, because of your admiration for her and such... not that I care about that deser..."
The look on Helena's face focuses entirely on Aruna, making him stop what he was about to say, even swallow dry.
"Hey... no need to look at me like that, you know what she did and what she is."
"If you are done..." She releases harsh words with her serene and expressionless voice while returning her gaze to the pages.
"Whatever... see you."
She lightly bites her teeth, forcing her jaw beneath the skin.
"One more thing, mom is calling you!" His sharp voice fades as he leaves the place.
After a few seconds of him being gone, she closes the book with one hand and throws it onto the table. Staring at one of the open windows high above, with her arms hanging down, she lets out a deep sigh. She stands up and walks in the same direction Aruna went.
Several minutes later, on a large balcony in the castle.
"Sorry for the intrusion, you called me?"
"Sit, daughter." A woman with light reddish hair, cut at shoulder length, makes herself noticed. Wearing slightly loose white formal pants, and a white shirt of the same style. Also barefoot, she sits on a cozy red bench, drinking something from a porcelain cup.
Helena notices the brown book with golden details that is on top of her table. A slight smile appears on her mouth, but soon disappears.
"Aruna must have already told you about Leila." She turns her gaze to Helena who subtly nods while staring at the ground.
"No matter what they say, she is an Étrion, and my daughter..." For a few moments the woman lowers her head and stares at the sand-colored ground. "Do you still want to follow her footsteps?" She raises her face to look at Helena.
"..."
Helena hesitates for a moment.
"Yes... I will only be able to discover the real stories of this world if I am out there, and not trapped in a library."
"Have you already finished your training?"
"Yes, but I do not want to go on the excursion, I want to visit Leila's grave and follow my path."
"I imagined, you really remind me a lot of her."
"..."
Helena cannot find words to continue the dialogue, when she briefly meets her mother's eyes, she notices something shining beneath them, but it is quickly hidden by a subtle and swift movement of hands.
Helena begins to bite her teeth again.
"Do not worry, I will be fine!" The woman takes a handful of air and takes another sip of what is in the cup. Her greenish gaze shines more than usual. "Be ready, when the next excursion departs, you will go along to Paraíso, and from there you may follow your path, that is the right thing to do."
A strong smile appears on Helena's face, which soon fades.
"I will be ready."
"One more thing Helena... I heard that Leila has a daughter!"
Her mother's words pierce her heart and make her freeze as she returns to stare at the ground.
"I was also surprised, her condition did not allow this, after all, that was the main reason she left... Daughter, I have one last request for you!"
"Do not worry mother! I will find who killed her and make sure that whoever it is, will never breathe the same air my sister breathed again."
A sincere smile appears on the woman's face.
"Take this book with you. As one last gift from me."
"Are you sure?"
"The story described in it seems to be more than fiction, maybe it will help you on your journey."
"I will take care of this gift given by my sister with everything I have."
Then Helena slightly bows in front of her mother after picking up the book from the table. Slowly she begins to leave the place.
"One last piece of advice." The woman's gaze is more focused and directed at the wall. "Just as the nobles feel repulsion toward the commoners, they also feel the same toward us. Be careful!"
Without answering this last statement, Helena leaves definitively.
Leaving only the soft breeze that enters through the arches of the balcony and reaches the woman's flushed face.
Stealthily, Aruna enters the place where his mother is and sits beside her.
"It is ugly to spy on other people's conversations."
"Sorry mom, I cannot resist." He lies down and places his head on her lap. "You know... it is sad to lose someone with so much potential."
"Yes, but I feel that her journey is far from here. Sooner or later she would end up running away as well."
"Great stories are written by people who venture beyond the limits. Maybe one day she will return with some book too, I cannot wait to read it." Aruna smiles softly.
"Mrs. Yvaine!"
"Speak, Simon."
"I have already delivered the message you asked for."
"For now that is all, you may leave."
"Yes ma'am!" One of the butlers who has just returned from a task secretly assigned to him reports the result.
"All right then mother?"
"Yes, now we must worry about ourselves and prepare for your brother's farewell." She strokes his thin and shiny hair. "Now go ask him for one last training session before leaving."
"All right, see you later." He runs off with a look of determination on his face and soon disappears from the place.