They buried Finneus in the sandy bluff that overlooked the ocean.

His body was wrapped in salvaged linens donated by the people of the village - Harsbach, it was called - and was beautifully adorned with desert lilies and a bundle of sweet smelling incense. The four of them - Aryn, Darius, Naomi, and Thom who was badly bruised but otherwise okay - lowered Finneus into the ground, each of them holding the corner of a tarp. Kaelen stood further away, but close enough to at least witness the burial.

Naomi could barely breathe, let alone focus on the eulogies given by the others. Even with her headache still active, she was too distracted by the nameless face of a beautiful woman that was far too close to Cassien - though it mattered little when it meant that he was alive. Inside, she was a torrent of elation, jealousy, guilt, and giddiness; on the outside, each glance at the burial sent sorrow straight through her once more.

How can you even think about that at a time like this? Naomi scolded herself.

When it was her turn to speak, her throat closed up. She stared endlessly at the darkened hole, unable to find the words that she had wished she'd said when he was alive. Aryn gave her an understanding look before nodding to the others, and they began to push the earth over the hole.

Even the sand had made more sound than she had.

Coward.

Naomi held up a handing, stuttering. "W-wait."

The others halted, waiting and watching with patient eyes. Naomi swallowed hard, and though her voice was shaking, it was there.

"I never thanked you, not properly in the way you deserved. I never thanked you for always trusting in my capabilities as both your ruler and as a person," Naomi wiped at her eyes gently. "Even before you took me to the harbours when the… ships first arrived, your first concern was for my safety. And when I pushed to go anyway, you didn't question me a second time. You believed in me."

Her voice broke, and the tears streamed freely. "And when Alistair… You didn't hesitate for a second to defend me. I know… you felt it was your duty to do so - but everyone has a choice. And you chose me. And I never… never thanked you for that. So… Thank you, Ser Finneus Versiles, for your service and your loyalty. If - when - we make it back, your name will be honoured in Monroe forever."

With her final goodbye, the sun began to set.

**

Under the clear night sky, the group huddled cross-legged on the ground around a small campfire on the sand, each devouring a bowl of vegetable stew made by the village cook. Sitting down finally gave Naomi an opportunity to divulge Cassien's status to the others, especially with Kaelen momentarily absent.

"So he's alive?" Thom asked through a mouthful of food. "Stubborn bastard."

"How in the world are you a noble with those kinds of table manners?" Darius shot him a questioning look.

Naomi nodded, her heart soaring. "We need to find him as soon as possible."

"And he was totally fine?" Thom questioned, ignoring Darius.

A dark cloud passed over Naomi's face at the thought of the blonde stranger, and even Aryn was startled at the same shift of her emotions. She caught herself, fixing her stormy expression. "Yeah."

"That sounded really convincing," Darius replied, leaning back against a log. "Shouldn't you be the happiest out of all of us?"

Naomi kicked his knee. "I'm elated."

Darius smacked her leg away. "First, you punch me - which, by the way, I haven't gotten an apology for-"

"I was in a hysterical amount of pain," Naomi choked in disbelief, and Aryn had to lean over to clap her back gently. "And you were touching my neck, without my consent-"

"-and now you kick me!" Darius scoffed.

The two continued to bicker, their original topic lost in the half-petty, half-non serious banter. The others shook their heads with an amused expression, grateful at least that the somber mood had shifted.

Kaelen interrupted with a loud clearing of her throat. "Who's alive?"

The group turned to her in surprise, then at Naomi with a questioning look as if to ask if she was trustworthy enough to be privy to the knowledge of their connection.

Naomi sighed inwardly - there was no point hiding it now. She explained it quickly, leaving out unimportant details. It was enough for her condition to be understood and the boons it gave, but nothing too in-depth.

Kaelen shrugged, sitting down on the sand, her muscular legs flexed outwards. "Well, that makes sense why you're always in pain, I guess. And here I thought you were just being a little priss."

Naomi stiffened. "No. It's real. Sorry to disappoint."

"Don't get mad because I'm willing to say what everyone's thinking," Kaelen let out a laugh. "Dainty little blonde? Check. Born with a gold shovel in her mouth? Check. Prince Charming is probably even on his way to come save you. How would I know you weren't just faking it for the attention?"

The shift in the atmosphere was immediate, both Darius and Aryn bristled in response at the same time. Even Thom narrowed his eyes at the insult. Naomi felt herself shut down at the words repeating in her mind, except this time, Kaelen's voice sounded like her mother's.

"It's best if you stopped speaking," Aryn said in a low voice, silver eyes pointed.

At the same time, Darius leaned forward, a hiss of black plumes rose from beneath him. "What the actual hell is wrong with you?"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Thom - who even had only recently begun to be more civil towards Naomi - spoke up. He scratched his overgrown beard, shaking his head. "You're damn lucky Cass wasn't around to hear that."

"Oh, right," Kaelen rolled her eyes. "Here comes the cavalry."

Darius scowled. "Why shouldn't we stick up for her? In case you hadn't noticed, she's been the only one who's given a single fuck about you. And for whatever reason, despite treating her like dog shit, she's still nice to you. If it were up to me, I would've left those cuffs on and let the ship take you down without losing a wink of sleep. "

"Geez," Kaelen muttered, stretching her hand. "Didn't realize she was doing you, too."

In a blink, Darius was gone from his spot, replaced by a curl of black smoke. He materialized out of shadow beside Kaelen, shadows of the flickering fire against his enraged face. He was quick - far quicker than anyone else by a mile - and his fist connected in a downwards punch against Kaelen's cheekbone.

She growled in anger, jumping onto her feet readied with a retaliation of her own. "You little shit-!"

Before Darius could make contact once more, Thom intercepted him, holding him back with one bulky arm across his chest. Darius was by no means a small person, but Thom was in a class of his own. Aryn honed his power on Kaelen, suppressing her fury so efficiently that she immediately hunched over.

"C'mon, she's not worth the broken hand," Thom urged him. "Obviously it's all brawn and no brain anyway."

Thom glared at Kaelen. "And just 'cause someone's willing to call you out on bullshit doesn't mean they're sleeping together - means they're not an asshole."

"Only the weak need someone else to stand up for them," Kaelen hissed, struggling through Aryn's aura.

Darius laughed, malicious and almost haughty. "That sounds like no one's liked you enough to stick around."

Silence hung in the air at his words, and for the first time, Kaelen had no response. Her face almost crumpled, but her brows remained stitched in a hateful scrunch. The tension between all five members was palpable, emotions running at an all-time high. Kaelen's words stung - hard - but the support of Darius, Aryn, and even Thom, was exactly what Naomi needed to snap out of her self-pity.

Naomi straightened her spine, looking Kaelen square in the eye. "It's not a weakness to be kind or to stick your neck out for someone."

"You don't like me because of who I am or what I look like - that's fine. You're not the first or the last. I never asked for your approval," Naomi continued, her voice growing steadier with each word. "I'll still be kind even if it makes you sick. But if you want to pick a fight, at least have the guts to be honest about what you're really bitter about."

For once, Kaelen had nothing to say. She stood without even a single glance at anyone, and walked away back towards the village houses.

Darius pulled away from Thom and turned to Aryn. "We need to kick her off this mission."

"Dar-"

"I'm serious, Ryn. She's a liability - I don't give a rat's ass even if you were to tell me she had a secret affair with Alistair. We don't need her. I'll get all the information we need and we'll continue like we originally planned."

Thom let out a huff, crossing his arms. "I don't think we even can continue in our current state. No disguises, no coin, and not to mention we're missing our biggest powerhouse."

"Not for long, I hope," Aryn said, turning to Naomi. "You know Cassien's alive through your connection. Can you contact him?"

"Not in a conventional sense, but… We could write a message telling him where we are and I'd just need to look at it."

"You mean you'd be staring at a sheet of paper for hours on end, hoping that he's looking at the right moment," Thom corrected.

"It's not the most efficient method," Naomi admitted, sighing. "But I can't think of anything else."

"What about you?" Aryn asked. "Can you keep your vision active at the same time on what he's seeing, in case he tries the same thing?"

Darius looked at Naomi warily. "Would that be too draining?"

Naomi shook her head. "I've never tried to keep it longer than a few minutes at most. But I can do it."

"Well," Thom gave her a grin before crouching low to the ground, and stuck a finger into the sand where it was dampened by the waves. "Let's give it a try."

They did exactly that - Thom etched in the sand a rough drawing of where Harsbach was on a map, with the assistance of a local, of course. Darius and Aryn eventually found a wooden board flat enough to copy onto, and Darius carved into it as a backup in case the shores washed away the lines in the sand.

Naomi stared for hours on end in boredom, forcing herself awake through the night, staring at the slate while her right-eye was swallowed black presumably as Cassien slept. Darius, Aryn, and Thom tried their best to entertain her with nonsensical chattering and storytelling, though they fell victim to slumber soon enough.

She felt a block of anxiety in her at what she might see when he woke up - but this was Cassien. No matter what she thought she saw, she trusted him. Their relationship hadn't come this far just for her to act irrationally and throw a fit of jealousy at a single, unexplained frame of another person.

And so she waited and waited, hoping her love would find his way back to her.

**

Cassien hadn't said a word about anything that happened the night before.

Daisy had helped him stand after she had finished cheering so loudly that some residents finally woke up through the commotion, and had come out to lecture them on their poor night time behaviours. He walked her home as quickly as he could, leaving before she could even thank him and returned straight to Myron's house. He had wanted to stay up to figure out what exactly had happened - how did frost flare out from his hands, strong enough to break metal? Who - and how - exactly did he have a sudden vision in his left eye of a silver haired woman? But either from the sudden drop in adrenaline or pure exhaustion, he allowed himself rest for the next day.

There was much to unpack.

One thing was for sure: he hadn't felt such severe pain - that he could remember, at least - in his skull than at the exact moment those strange powers manifested. Cassien wondered if they were linked somehow, and if he would be able to replicate it.

He dressed quickly in plain black borrowed clothes before heading out, passing the lumber yard where Myron and Banner caught a glimpse of him.

"Oi! Cassien!" Myron hollered after him.

Cassien kept moving, heading into the wooded areas where the land was dense with both acacia and thick yucca trees. If he was going to practice summoning that power again, he didn't want to involve any others in it. He heard footsteps behind him, heavy and clumsy, and knew that the two men were trying to catch up to him.

Cassien didn't turn his head, projecting his voice instead. "Stop following me."

"Whoa!" Banner echoed back. "What's with the attitude?"

"Aw, shut up, Ban!" Cassien heard a smack and a yowl as Myron spoke up. "Obviously it didn't work out with Daize."

"Shit. Hey, Cassy, we're sorry we left!"

A trip and groan - Myron scrambled back to his feet. "We just thought, y'know, the two of you might get along."

"It's fine," Cassien called back, slipping ahead at a far faster pace. "I just need some time alone."

Cassien twisted in a different direction, taking a diverted route than he was originally on. He moved quickly, hoping the thickness of the tree trunks would disguise where he was. It seemed to work as their voices faded, and Cassien eventually found a small clearing where a chunk of trees had been cut down to stumps.

Now what?

Cassien held out his palm - and nothing happened.

He had no idea what to do. His and Daisy's life had been threatened when it last manifested - was that a condition to trigger the frost?

No. Something - either innate or a buried memory - nagged at him.

He flexed his hands outwards again, thinking hard about every aspect of the frost. The sting as it appeared, knowing it was cold without so much as feeling the chill. Cassien inhaled deeply, mimicking the same motions of reaching for the pipe; he focused on the tension of his arm, the adrenaline that surged through him, protecting Daisy from their attackers.

For a moment, it almost felt like something was at the precipice of his hands, but nothing happened.

Cassien frowned, analyzing, cycling through every moment for anything he might be missing. The cool blue shade and the way the frost crystalized over the metal surface, willing it from deep within himself-

Footsteps interrupted him once again as the two older men finally caught up. Myron grunted with a heavy breath. "Good god, I miss being young-"

"Myron, Banner," Cassien said in a cool tone, turning to them, golden eyes firm with determination. "I need you two to fight me."

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