Looking at the capital city of the country of Fiore, Crocus the Holy Capital they called it, Silver couldn’t help but let out a long impressed whistle. “Nice place you got here.” He jokingly yells over his shoulder, causing the armed men behind him to laugh knowing the foreigner was half making fun of them since the capital, while clearly impressive, was in various states of disrepair due to the recent battle. But still, it was a genuinely nice city, filled with towering pointed buildings of fine Fiorian build, pleasant busy streets, equally pleasant looking and lots of plants which made everything just so… nice. As the caravan, he was guarding got closer and closer Silver was beginning to like the place more and more. Politics didn’t matter too much to a freelancer swordsman like the Sinian, so this place was perfect as a start point for his new life. Fiore was perfect, unlike the war-torn Sin a perfect place to start a new life.

A few hours later Silver was waving goodbye to the other caravan guards that he got to know over the last few months, promising to meet them at a nearby inn later that night. Silver knew it was important to keep in touch with friendly contacts, mostly since he was new foreign looking. But the day was still young so the young man decided to explore the city a bit, maybe get some street vendor food, gawk at the weapon display at the blacksmiths, buy a trinket at the market, and flirt with some cute girls at a public garden…

But after turning a corner the cheerful smile falls off his face as the sunlight bounces off his gold bracelet, reminding Silver of his responsibilities. “Who am I kidding? I’ve put this off long enough.” The swordsman grumbles to himself, rubbing his face with the hand not holding the sheath of his trusty katana. While it was true Silver intended to start a new life in Fiore, he even changed his name to a Fiorian one though kept the meaning for… reasons and he came to this country in particular because it was his mother’s homeland. A homeland where his only living family hopefully was. An overall goal was to find his older sister Mei whom he believed to have survived and moved to Fiore after they had been separated some years back. But that was long term since he had next to no leads on her location.

The more immediate goal was something he’d been putting off. In a town in this country lived his only very recently discovered half-sisters, his mother’s other children. He knew their names, Phoebe and Mary Rainsworth. He generally knew where they lived. He could get there relatively easily. But most of all Silver promised his deceased father on his deathbed and his mother’s memory that he would seek the two out, after receiving the surprising news a few months ago. But getting the guts to do it was another thing entirely. The sixteen-year-old had the daunting job of walking up to two virtual strangers who may or may not know of his existence and… tell them of his existence. Silver wasn’t sure how they would take that but given the fact he also had to tell them that their mother had another family (though once again, he had no idea about what they knew) without knowing their relationship to her or anything about them was… well, daunting was definitely a good word. But the worse part was one fact he definitely knew he had to personally deliver that would be shocking. That their mother had died some years ago, and it was due to Silver for his sake.

Ya, he wasn’t at all eager for that confrontation. But family was important to him, whether they knew or liked him at all. He had a job to do and dammit, the katana wielder was going to do it!

…. But maybe not today. After all, there was a beautiful city to explore! So with a grin easily slipping back onto his face and trusty katana in hand Silver turned another corner, ready to enjoy his family drama free day in it’s full.

There was still a little rubble and Phoebe had volunteered to fix the gress perks that were around to town, as now a Nature mage she tried to help the trees and heal them in a sort of weak way with her magic that wasn't made for that. She was at the moment sitting on the rubble to rest and stare at her work. Persephone was talking to her about the way the tree, the special one in front of her worked and functioned and she listened casually. She sat with her legs pulled up in a casual outfit of jeans and a thick blue shirt and black jacket because of the cold. Her long black hair in a braid drapped over her left shoulder.

She didn't pay much attention to the people around her because of the fact that she was checking if she helped the tree and listened to Persephone. The two had finally made up in their dual of dominance and had accepted to work together and figure out these games and fix what was necessary to fix their games and grasp in this world, that was a good idea. She had not much to worry about that, she had a small plan unfolding; meeting as many people as she could to make use of that. They stood up or well Phoebe, jumping off the block of stone that she sat on to make her way to the second perk a few steps away and perhaps they would check out the gardens a little later. They had not known about it before but since she heard from strangers that there was a beautiful flower garden near the palace, she couldn't help but be interested and curious as well as the Nature Goddess. Most people thanked her for her work of fixing nature, which was very strange as no one mostly talked to her unless she was standing next to a tree and supporting it again with putting her hands up at her shoulder's height and place them on the tree bark and let her magical energy work it's way into the tree's structure to help get rid of the damage that was done by fire and magic by other mages.

Crocus as a beautiful city. But it would be a gorgeous one if the scars of battle hadn’t been so predominant. Some streets remained completely untouched while others were in degrees of a bit of destroyed road to completely wrecked. The mood was also uneven with many people looking worried or outright fearful though Silver couldn’t tell if that was because of the sudden leadership change or because of the leader. But still for most it was business as usual and unless the new government directly interfered with that business most common people really didn’t care, such as the freelancer himself. So while things in Crocus were a bit tense, it wasn’t dangerous or unbearable, at least from the sixteen-year-olds perspective.

Silver noticed these things while walking around and doing the pointless things he’d intended to do leaving only garden viewing left, and man there were plenty of those, this was a really green city even with the winter snow stopping flowers from blooming people seemed to use magic to aid hardier plants to decorate everything. He kind of wanted to chat up a pretty girl, but honestly the swordsman was a sociable creature and after a few hours wandering around alone he wouldn’t mind even just a nice conversation partner. So looking around the nice if slightly war-ravaged garden Silver tried to spot anyone he was interested in trying to start a conversation with, surprised it had people in it despite the cold weather. There were plenty of old people, good for conversation if a bit long winded, but they were in at least groups of two so they were out. A few mothers with babies or small children, also out since he wasn’t a creep. There was what looked like a few local guards on a break, most definitely out. Not seeing anyone suitable for what he wanted Silver pouted a bit and was about to leave until he spotted something odd in the corner of his eye.

Underneath a damaged looking tree was what looked like a tall woman with a perfect hourglass shaped body, if covered by a thick layer of clothing to drive off the winter cold, with her black haired tied in a braid and hands on the tree as if she was bracing herself against it. A bit curious as to why she was doing this Silver slowly approached from behind, his eyes widening when he got nearer and noticed the damage to the tree was being healed. A bit mesmerized by this act Silver continued to approach until he was about two meters away from the woman feet loudly crunching in the snow, his instincts urging him toward her for some reason and he wasn’t the one to not trust his instincts.

Someone is watching us. It was Persephone, she obviously didn't see anyone because she couldn't see through the back of Phoebe her head but the black haired mage felt a tingling sense at the back of her neck as if someone indeed was locking at them, Persephone could be right. But that didn't immediately have to be a bad thing, most people had watched her, trying to figure out what she was doing, why she was doing it and so on. But nature meant a lot to her, it always had done, she had grown up in the greenest town of Fiore; Orchidia. But now with the Nature Goddess in her mind, she was giving more back to nature than she had ever done, she appreciated more and could become furious when someone harmed nature or their critters. Even though she hated rodents, she had gone on a mission to save one.. pushed by Persephone that is.

She finished the spell that she was using or that basically was saping energy from herself and Persephone, hence why they always needed a little rest after one tree to go on to the next. She had done quite a few and the battles had not gone over the whole town so she would probably be done soon, "Hello." She said once she turned around and noticed some young guy standing there, in the snow. She didn't understand why but he looked a little lost and she lifted up an eyebrow as if to ask silently if she could help him.

He really shouldn’t have been so surprised when she suddenly turned around, but Silver barely held back from giving a little jump. She was a rather beautiful woman if an older one to his disappointment since she would probably be adverse to some teenager hitting on her. Plus he was a bit too flustered by the sudden attention to pull anything that wouldn’t be majorly embarrassing off. Because man that was one pinning gaze.

Trying not to shift around and show his unease Silver instead rubbed the back of his head with a hand, a sheepish expression on his face. “Uh, ya hi. Sooooorry to bother you I was just, um, interested in what your doing…?” Silver asks the dark-haired woman with a large internal cringe. How else was he supposed to put it? His instincts bade him toward her? Dammit, usually he was much smoother than this!

Physically shaking his unease off with a shake of his head the swordsman reignited his signature grin and casual stance. “I’m Silver by the way, new to town.” He chirps in greeting, hoping that his general friendliness off states his earlier awkwardness. “I was just on a stroll and I saw you working on this tree, so I got kinda curious since I’ve never seen nature magic worked up close before. Really didn’t mean to disturb you.” Silver finishes with a bashful laugh, hands confidently on his hip hear his katana, his golden family heirloom glinting in the sun in his wrist.

Perhaps she had been too quick to jump to a conclusion but Persephone and Phoebe were very aware that someone was watching them and that was something the two of them didn't like. After what Phoebe had done with this soul magic power, she had been on the tip of her toes and actually easily crying and afraid. How embarrassing was the moment she jumped behind.. She gritted her teeth as the name of Victor popped up in her mind. The two of them didn't understand a single thing what happened as he had stalked off underneath the night sky. What happened after those empty promisses? They were even more empty than she had expected, they were non existent at the moment.

As much as it had hurt her, it had made a little dent in Persephone her ego, but they tried very hard to forget it now, and stare at the person that had watched them heal the tree. She at least managed to say hello and waited for his move. She immediately noticed his unease and she tried to shake off her own and dropp her pathetic stance by lowering her shoulders a little and relax, she tried to plaster a smile on her lips as well and look at him with a cooler expression than the one before that. "Oh, I use nature magic, so this tree was damaged because of the fights and I tried to fix the bark, helping it to protect itself again." She said calmly, Be nice Phoebe. Which was a very strange thing to hear from Persephone but she tried.

He soon seemed to be more sure of himself and she stared at his grin and listen to his introduction, "Nice to meet you. I'm Phoebe, I have only been here a couple of days so I can't say much. The town has had it's better days is all I can say." She let out a little giggle as he seemed so sure of himself, "Well this was one of the last trees, so I won't call it disturbing me really. It's nice to have a talk with someone." as many more people had done, thank her for her hard work even if she had done nothing but work out the nature issues because Persephone asked her. Asked, not even demanded, which was a new way in their work-in-progress relationship.

As soon as Silver began to speak, no maybe when she first looked at him some sort of emotion flashed through them that Silver was unable to pin down. But the moment quickly passed, though going by the rather cold tone of her voice something seemed to affect her. Or maybe Silver was just reading into the situation too much. But he had some respect and even a bit of awe for what she was doing. Was she being paid to do it, or was it just out of the goodness of her heart? Either way, the freelancer thought it was a very fine use of one’s magic.

Silver vaguely wondered if she noticed that as soon as she introduced herself all of the blood ran from his already pale face, his eyes widened and his body tensed. ‘Phoebe… There’s no freaking way…’ He thought with mild horror. Then at the woman’s giggle Silver found himself snapping back to attention, grin morphing onto his face. Naaw, he was freaking out over nothing, the katana user wasn’t THAT unlucky. Or lucky if he wasn’t such a procrastinator. Plus his mom was a fire mage who taught both of his Sinian sibling’s fire magic and probably taught her Fioran kid's fire magic as well. This Phoebe was obviously a nature mage. No correlation.

Relaxing a bit more naturally now the sixteen-year-old walks up to the tree to inspect it a bit while continuing to chat. “Ya, I’ve noticed your little renovation problems.” He jokes, looking at the fine work the woman must have done on the tree since it didn’t seem damaged at all anymore. “So you’re not from Era then too? I just got here from Sin myself, too much war mongering there. Fiore is really nice from what I’ve seen, lots of awesome nature. I’m actually heading to Orchidia next for my freelancer work, heard it’s got the best gardens in the country.” Silver chatters happily, glad he found someone to talk to and still doing some passive digging to aids his hopes of a drama free day. “You know in Sin nature magic is sorta considered holy since we worship mainly nature gods and spirits. I’m sure this tree’s spirit is really thankful for your help at the very least. Are you being paid to do this ma’am? You could probably find some good work there in a shrine if you want though I’m sure the tree’s here will be sad to see you leaf.” The swordsman finishes his monologue with a grin thrown the woman’s way, hoping she likes or hates the joke. Either would make his day.

Where her mind was preoccupied with a few things, considering trees, her hate for Victor, groceries, her hate for Victor, oh some shopping, future planning, hating on Victor, being surprised about that whole incident and of course the whole occupation of having another soul talking to you as well, she didn't notice anything special by the expression of this guy, Silver. She didn't want to be rude, definitely not but she had a bad couple of days, months perhaps if she was exaggerating and she wasn't at the moment even sure if she was. So instead she simply let this go for as far as she could, for as far as Persephone allowed it but she giggled, she couldn't help it.

She took a step aside as Silver seemed to be interested in checking out the tree so she let him and listen to his joke about Crocus, "You could call it a renovation thingy now that we have a new emperor." Which she didn't really form an opinion about, nothing seemed to be changed for her so everything was fine. But the conversation turned to something far more interesting, her home town, "Orchidia is the most beautiful place that Fiore has to offer, that's my home town." So he was from Sin, she had actually never been there, she had barely been around Fiore and yet she was a 100% convinced that Orchidia was the most beautiful town. NOw that she thought about it, she had only to go to the west of the country and the north above Orchidia and the rest she had seen. Huh close to finding answers, and yet there didn't seem to be any about the whereabouts of her mother, perhaps she was in Sin. Considering how she had betrayed her family, it would be fitting to the word.

She quickly had to cut off her own track of thoughts and turned to look back at Silver. She couldn't help but laugh again and Persephone seemed to be rather amused as well, "Sounds like I need to visit Sin some time. I mostly thank my work and magic to the Goddess of Nature, Persephone." But she shrugged as if to say that it was nothing, "But to come to your point, no I did this because of my own thoughts, I decided that if I could do something for nature, I should."

Silver regretted trying to dig more since it was only causing his unease to grow. Her name was Phoebe and she was from Orchidia and Silver was unsure about how big the town was and how common a name like Phoebe was in this country. But there was still a chance this Phoebe wasn't the one he was looking for, they didn’t look alike and the nature magic thing… which were both still pretty weak since not even full siblings could look related and maybe she rebelled against learned fire magic or learned a new magic. But it was starting to get to a point where Silver would be an outright coward to avoid this important matter as it was. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t put it off a few seconds longer.

With tense shoulders and sweaty palms, the swordsman kept pretending to look at the healed tree while he talked, hoping he didn’t look suspicious because of her nervousness. “Ya, Sin is known for its rivers and mountains. I’ve never heard of Persephone before, is she a Fioran nature goddess? Anyways that’s pretty nice of you to do Phoebe, healing plants. I mean, it’s not like they can really defend themselves against harm, right? No need to let them suffer.” Wow, he was so nervous that he was starting to empathize with plants. This was probably a hint from his subconscious that Silver should cut to the chase.

Making sure his long hair hid his expression from her Silver decided to be casual as possible with his next words. After all, he could still be wrong and she could simply be someone who could point him in the right direction. “… Orchidia sounds nice, it’ll be a fun to visit. But I’m actually going there for business, not pleasure. You see I’m actually supposed to deliver a message to two sisters who live there, one who has the same name as you…” He says, stance still relaxed as he could fake it and a smile on the only visible part of his face, hand on the tree’s trunk feeling the hard bark below it. “You wouldn’t happen to know a Phoebe and Mary Rainsworth by any chance, would you?” Silver sure hoped she didn’t.

She now spotted the unease at the face of Silver and she wasn't entirely sure where it came from. Sure she believed she was pretty but she never made someone nervous by the looks of her and she wasn't entirely sure if she was okay with that thought. She thought she had seen it but as the guy wasn't looking exactly at her, she might have guessed wrong but she kept a close eye on him and his words.

She frowned a little and nodded, which she realized shortly after he wouldn't be able to see. "Ah yeah she is a Fioran Goddess, yeah exactly. I'm glad someone understands as well. It will probably be a Sin thing but people here, most take nature for granted." Which was what infuriated the Goddess within her but it would be weird to say that.

She didn't know what to say as the conversation turned to Orchidia, sure she loved Orchidia, she could talk about it for hours but her voice or well the noise she could make was stuck in her throught as she heard her name and her sister's name roll over his tongue. "P-Phoebe Rainsworth?" She couldn't help but stutter and feel the obvious need of Persephone to guard her and protect her. It felt so very strange to say her own name out loud and she couldn't see an expression, a smile for a few seconds, "I'm Phoebe Rainsworth."

She braced herself, expected everything to be told to her so she wouldn't be hurt and show no extra emotions and so on.

“O-oh, that’s good I guess a-at least I don’t have to take that long trip.” He says in a hollow voice, failing at being casual as his stomach drops and his throat tightens at the news. In his head, Silver swears very creatively in Sinian. Seriously he had never believed in fate before but this was too huge of a coincidence, the fact they both happened to meet in the biggest city in the country. But with that confirmation here they were, standing under a leafless tree in the chilly snow with Silver about to deliver some really bad news. Should he really say it here? Now? If his sister (oh god his sister, she was standing right beside him!) took it badly, well, she was a nature mage and they were in the middle of a park. The swordsman wasn’t very eager to get killed by a tree or whatever, that would be an embarrassing way to die. Should he suggest they go to a café or something?

‘No, I can’t put this off any longer. It’s here and now.’ Silver thinks to himself firmly, hand gripping the bark in front of him. But how was he going to break it to her? Silver hadn’t had the chance to think of the specifics since he had planned to do that on the way to Orchidia. So he took a long moment of tense silence to plan things out.

In a sudden moment, Silver turns to face Phoebe, silver eyes filled with mixed emotions of deep sorrow and determination. Then just as suddenly he bends over in a formal Sinian bow. “I am deeply regretful to inform you of the passing of your mother 6 years ago in the land of Sin. I apologize for not being able to inform you sooner I only found out about her relation to you recently.” Silver says, spine stiff as he continues to bow. “I- I am sorry for your loss.” He finishes, voice unintentionally filled with grief as well as images of his mother flashed through his mind. Now it was time to break the other news. Silver got up from his bow, face tense and sad, unable to make eye contact with the woman in front of him. “She was my mother as well.” He finishes with a quiet voice, tense in preparation for any backlash from the woman in front of him. He probably could have said that better, but he wasn’t exactly used to being the bearer of bad news. But under the nervousness and grief, there was a spark of hope and joy in him at finally finding his family. There was a previously unnoticed weight off of his shoulders, he had finally granted his parents final wishes. ‘Mom, dad, I hope you're proud of me.’ He thinks to himself eyes closed for a moment, body still tense while waiting for Phoebe’s next words.

She didn't understand much about the whole thing, he needed to find her and her sister? She wanted to look aside but of course Mary wasn't here and she couldn't just look at Persephone who was only a soul in her mind. She didn't understand what she would have to think about this whole ordeal, she felt a nerve coming over her and only by gritting her teeth and thus locking her jaw, she could stand with a neutral expression on her face. While she was infuriated by the thing that she didn't even know yet, she could only be thinking about bad things. Ideas that would make her mind worse and anger and only Persephone would be able to keep her calm now. Very funny idea.

Her eyes narrowed a little when she watched him grip the bark she had just repared but he didn't put any pressure on it to break, he seemed to be more like having a nervous breakdown that would give him the sight as if he was only holding on to the tree for support and she could accept that, now only more curious to the news that he planned to perhaps tell her now. The silence was almost unbearable, she didn't know what to say. She took a surprised step back when he bowed down and made an apology for her mother's death. But that couldn't be possible, she had had a vision only months ago, perhaps almost a year ago in Orchidia about her mother with a baby. So what six years ago. "That can't be true." She said, almost as if she was a hundred percent sure, but she wasn't and she knew that. She had been looking for her mother, a news reporter for a magical magazine but the company had told her that she quit years ago. Six years ago.. that was when she.. when she left.. that meant.. She shook her head, "That's not possible." by now her voice was wavering. But where she was uncertain, Persephone pointed out he was as well, a sixteen year old or so Persephone guessed, shouldn't be the bearer of such bad news unless..

The problem with the second part of the news was two things; Silver should be lucky she was no longer a fire mage because she wouldn't be able to take care of that and thanks to the nature Goddess, she could direct her anger to a short, rather soft, mini earthquake that would only reach the space till five meters around them. Some strangers, looked at the floor but it had come and go as quickly as it went with Persephone her direction. Where Phoebe wanted to lift up her hand and hit this person on the cheek, not even doing such violence beforehand, she quickly reconsidered herself and placed her hand on his shoulder, "It must be terrible to carry that information for so long. Thank you for telling me." The vision had been a bit far in the past, she had not known that nor seen that in the short amount of time that the river spirit had shown it to her.

‘Oh shit, she’s in shock.’ Silver thinks at her immediate denial, grey eyes worried as he stared at the woman who was still reeling from the information. Not surprising at all, of course, he expected her to be shocked. Doesn’t mean he knows how to comfort her though, not with the fear of her lashing out at him still very present. And honestly? If she did he wouldn’t be able to blame her, not really. Sometimes blaming something or someone else was a way of dealing with grief, like how Silver blamed his lack of strength and magic for why his family died.

The second part of the news caused much more surprise and panic in the young man. Gripping on the bark beside him to even keep himself on his feet Silver struggled to not draw his sword in reaction to the perceived attack, knowing it would just make the situation worse. Also, he would have his ass kicked, going by the raw power of nature she was giving off. Seriously, what the hell?! Were all women in his family badasses or something? Those thoughts stopped serving to distract him as he made eye contact with Phoebe as soon as the earthquake stopped. It was eyes filled with absolute rage and contempt at the proof of her mother’s infidelity and dishonesty standing right before her. A deep shiver ran down his spine but he didn’t look away, staying determined and letting her know that he didn’t think his existence was any reason to be ashamed of himself.

He saw Phoebe’s eyes flash with a fierce look and her hand rise, causing the young man to automatically tense for the hit and even foolishly close his eyes for a second. Silver’s hand twitched toward his katana but he resisted the urge once again, not willing to make the situation worse. So you could imagine his surprise when instead of a slap in the face and heartbreaking words he received a supportive hand on his shoulder and warm sympathetic words. Silver opened his eyes and stared at the hand for a second then looked at Phoebe with complete shock, taking a few seconds to even process her words, let alone respond to them.

“I… No problem I guess.” Silver tells his half-sister in a mental haze. “It’s what they wanted. M-my dad and mom I mean.” He mumbles and then immediately curses to himself for mentioning his father, probably someone Phoebe most definitely doesn’t want to know about. He scrambles to save the conversation. “It also feels great to finally get this off my chest. Oh and If you need time to process this I can tell you where I’m staying so we can talk later. Or if you want me to tell you more about.. what happened” He offers quickly, realizing she might be going through what he did when Silver was told his brother was dead. So he was willing to leave Phoebe to grieve, not expecting her to want his comfort since he was a stranger after all.

If you would have told Phoebe a year before that she would have this flash of rage in her that she would even think about hitting a stranger, she would have stared at you with a silent judgemental look and not said anything because it was barbaric and she wouldn't be able to think about herself like that. But what a year could do to shape a person, lost, forgotten or so it felt and left behind. To learn her mother was dead even with the hints and visions she got throughout the months it took a seconds to adjust to that and to believe that it was true. She wasn't sure what to say but words escaped her soft pink lips and the emotions would go like a trainwreck through her.

Persephone didn't disapprove about the feelings but as they had trying to take steps forward in her rollercoaster of emotions as well as being able to get a grip on her life and find allies that she could use instead of being the one that was used, she sort of pinched Phoebe to stay sane. As if she was placing her hand on Phoebe her own shoulder before she would readjust her own motion and place her hand on Silver his shoulder. Before she would find her voice rather soon enough and let her lilac eyes only show the emptiness that this news had brought with her. Perhaps with a half brother it's easy to get more allies, he can be one. If only you treat him right. Of course Persephone never thought about family bonds, she never had something like that as a Goddess.

To avoid giving any damage to the possible relation or whatever this might become Persephone stepped in but not with Phoebe her reaction or so, she let the energy go and that made Phoebe get to the point that she felt the loneliness answer her call and overrule the wrath inside her. Which made her automatically stop and do what she did, and speak the way she did, no anger, no fury, just a girl, who lost her mother but couldn't blame the person in front of her. Her mother had made her choice, she only had not been honest about it. She noticed his stammering, which was only logical, Persephone called it cute with a hint of sarcasm but she was probably just annoyed.

She watched Phoebe carefully as well but the raven haired mage had just pushed it away and let the whole information wash over her as if it all didn't matter and actually it didn't matter, it barely changed a thing. "Yes I would like to know what happend, would you mind to go sit somewhere? There is a bench not far away from here." Because standing might make her create another earthquake and she certainly didn't feel up for that. She would unlock that pain later again.

‘So she doesn’t want me to leave.’ Silver thinks with relief. She also seems to be holding herself together though the lack of emotion now in her eyes worried him. He then almost questioned if she was really sure, this was all quite shocking news after all but decided not to with a shake of his head. He needed to count his blessings after all. “… I guess if you really want me too. But I’m warning you this isn’t the happiest of stories, though it’s probably not the saddest. Just... personal.” He says, always trying to put a positive spin on things.

Peering around Silver noticed a nearby bench that she was probably talking about and headed over there, slowly walking behind her. The swordsman sat down awkwardly beside the nature mage, elbows on his knees and head near his hands which were clamped before him. Not a position that made one feel good, but this tale wasn’t going to do that anyways. He would try to focus on things Phoebe would probably actually care about, namely their mother. “I didn’t know about our… family trouble until very recently. When I was a kid mom would go away for most of the year because of her job though that was probably just her going between the two of us.  My dad knew about all of this but, uh, they were really close so I guess he didn’t care. Mom loved me and my, uh, older Sin siblings Mei and Ren even though they weren’t actually related to her.” Wait this was entirely unnecessary and probably only made her feel worse. Time to move on. “Anyways she would visit every few months for a while until I turned 10. That was when the lord ruling over my area started a civil war with the next one. Mom got there just in time to help us get out of the town and wanted to bring us to Fiore. But… things happened and my older brother and dad got conscripted and she didn’t want to leave. But she got sick. Mei and I, we didn’t know what to do she was always so strong and the situation we were in, we couldn’t get any help. We couldn’t even get a doctor to find out WHAT was wrong with her. It was almost like her magic was turning against her and eating her from the inside out like a virus. Mei did her best to raise but but I’m not a mage so she had to look after my sorry ass as well and mom wanted us to leave her for here and…” He was getting a tad emotional at the memories his voice becoming heavy but his bangs thankfully covering his misty eyes.

Silver coughed into his hand to get control of his emotions again. “She passed away a few days later. You know near the end she was calling out a bunch of names. You and Mary were pretty common, though Mei and I thought it was just some random Fiorian names at the time.” He said, unaware of any effect this might have on the woman beside him. “We couldn’t afford a Sin cremation ceremony and we didn’t know what Fiorians did with their… dead, so we buried. Then we tried to head to Fiore but I got separated from Mei and after a while I thought she was dead so I headed back to where we were before and found my dad still alive and my brother dead so I became a mercenary to take care of him and when he died a few months ago he told me the truth about mom and made me promise to see and tell you guys so here I am and I told you so there.” Silver said the last sentence in a complete rush, eager to get it all over with and feeling emotionally drained from this utterly crappy day. At least he was fairly sociable so talking this much didn't exhaust him even more.

If there was a possibility to use a vault in her mind to throw all the emotions at, she would do that but right now it was Phoebe send all her emotions to Persephone and would be able to go on. The Goddess kept her mouth shut as the load of emotions washed over her, pain, hurt, anger and many more things that even was too much to the Goddess. Mostly because the Goddess was of course not used to human emotions and to not open that pain again the Goddess just sat in silence, watching for as much as she could see and do. All the Goddess could wonder was how this kid would continue in his life if he seemed to be wanting to please everyone, the way he spoke to Phoebe. Maybe it was because she was his half sister but Persephone would find out probably later if Phoebe didn't screw up anything but the Goddess believed that Phoebe understood consequences slowly on.

Phoebe turned around to walk to the bench she had mentioned and looked over her shoulder to see if Silver would come along. She sure had a lot to learn about Sin's culture because he was bowing again and not looking at her while he spoke, which she found rude but it was probably something that was very polite in his country and she dismissed it. It gave her the time to adjust her face herself, it stood neutral, her lips in a straight line as she showed no indication of sad or happy. All she did now was take in the information and deal with the emotions that she threw towards Persephone. So her Sin husband knew about the whole affair, perhaps they were only the second family while she believed to be the first. Though it was clear that she was older than Silver, it didn't matter. It didn't change anything.

When he turned ten? How many years would that be ago? She wasn't entirely sure as she had no correct idea what his age was but she simply took a deep breath and listened on. Fiddeling with her hands and in the end sitting on them to stop making such dumb motions. She heard about fire magic and any other magic being able to turn into an illness and turn onto the mage that used it, but she had never seen or actually heard about it happening. She bit her lower lip, it sounded terrible to have that happen and she was glad for her own selfish reasons to not be a Fire Starter anymore. "It must hurt him as well." But when Persephone talked she could feel the hurt herself, taking another quick gulp of air to not cry herself. Six years of no answers, about her strict but indeed strong and supportive mother. Why did she lie, why did she need another family? Why wasn't she enough? Would Phoebe ever be enough for someone?

She felt the wave of emotions hit her as Silver told her that her mother had called out her name. "Mother." she whispered, what would people expect of her, as her sight on Silver became unsteady as the tears appeared in her eyes. Not enough but worthy enough to be called out in the last hours, wonderful. "Thank you for telling."

“… No problem.” Silver finally says with a sigh after almost a minute of silence. Getting out of his depressing posture he instead sitting up straight with his hands behind his back. He was utterly exhausted and it’s hardly been more than ten minutes since this conversation started. But he was also feeling very fulfilled. The most urgent part of his mission was done, the debt to his parents repaid. He was feeling lighter than he had in, wow almost six years with the burden of losing his siblings and mother, taking care of his sick father, losing him and gaining some very unhappy information to deliver. Now he finally had some closure.

He let the silence go on for a while longer to give Phoebe some time to get her emotions sorted, and ya get his own emotional but into gear as well because they still had something to talk about. “… So what now? I'm going to continue traveling. On my way here I found out my sister Mei might still be alive and in this country so I’m looking for her as well. So if there’s anything else you need from me well… now’s the time to say it. I know that I’m technically still a stranger to you and I literally appeared out of nowhere with no warning so you don’t have to feel obliged or anything too…” Too what? Become a part of her family? Be treated like a brother? Get involved with each other’s lives? Silver knew that he was stretching his luck as it is, he would have no idea what his reaction would be in her shoes. Family was important to him but he would respect Phoebe’s choices and if she wanted him to stay away from her and the other Rainsworth’s, he would.

She didn't know what else to say, the idea that there were too many emotions at once swirling in her mind and body made it impossible to come up with words and with that thus questions or anything else. She didn't know what to say because she didn't want him, which sounded very cruel but she believed that they were not the most important family for her mother, no matter her ill wayling about her and Mary, it wasn't enough, if it had been enough than why not stay here in Orchidia, why go to a war, why leave other children behind! Simply because there was no war? Well look her now mother, they were probably on the brick of one with a new emperor and the like, but no mother to give her advice, to help her guide her or anything. Never in her whole life, since she got the Nature Goddess soul, had she been so happy that she was no longer a fire starter. She would never wanted to be linked to her mother again.

"Make good use of this Phoebe." Persephone said in hushed words, to have someone that wanted probably to have a family, which made sense as he seemed young, Mary wanted the same, but still, "I need some time to sort this out, but you are of course always welcome to come to Orchidia, just give me some time here before I can go and inform my.. my part of the family." Persephone seemed to approve of that choice of words, and Phoebe tried to give this weak smile that wasn't even very difficult, "perhaps when time comes, I can help you find your sister Mei. I mean I know quite a lot about Fiore's towns and a handful of people but, yeah like I said, I need time." Time to set everything right in her mind and before she would be able to get something out of this situation or so Persephone called it.

She stood up, "I really appreciate that you came to tell me, it must have been very hard. I just need a moment alone but if you can give me the address where you stay, I can come into contact." She took a piece of paper out her own purse to give hers, which she quickly scribbled down, "And if you need anything, feel free to send a letter or step by." After she exchanged their address of their current stay, she would get out of the park to get back to her hotel, she needed more than a few minutes to adjust herself to the new unfolded situation.

Silver gave a relived if tired smile at her words, various happy at and grateful for the way Phoebe was acting and her welcoming him to her hometown. He was also selfishly glad to not have to go through this again with anyone else and tried to communicate that through his expression. Which promptly morphed into a look of surprise at her offer of aid to look for someone who wasn’t even related to her before breaking out into the sunny grin that usually adorned his face but had been missing for the last ten minutes. “Thank you, that means a lot to me. If you ever hear of or see a woman around your age with black hair, white skin and brown eyes that are always frowning who goes by the name Cheung Mei let me know.” Silver knew that it wasn’t the best description since it was a very common combination of features, Phoebe had them herself, but it was the best he could do.

He gives a self-conscious laugh at the Nature Mages thanks while knowing it wasn’t funny at all. “Naw, we really should have informed you guys sooner and like I said. I promised them.” Silver finishes with a tense smile. Eyes widening at her next words he gave a quick nod and took the paper handed to him. “I’m just staying at an inn right now so how about I get a mailbox later and send you its address? I’ll try to come back to Crocus when I can or forward it to a different one.” The freelancer offers, then tells her what inn he’s staying at and his room number.

“It- it was really great to meet you, Phoebe. Really. Thank you. I hope we see each other again.” Silver says one last time, giving her a warm grateful smile and a short Sin bow before turning around to head out of the park. The swordsman resists the urge to look over his shoulder has to wanders away, glad this day turned out like he hoped it had when it started.