I had come to realize that the place where I was dropped off was vastly different from the one I had come to know. Everything was different—from clothes to furniture, down to how the people around me moved. I wondered about my birth parents and how they fared now that they had their child taken away. Would it be possible to be reunited when I was clearly dumped on the opposite side of the world?

“Don’t worry, Evy,” Hellenia said, holding me upright as I explored the room with my eyes. “I’m trying to see if I could search for your parents…but it seems no one is looking for you. You’re quite…different. I didn’t think it would be hard.”

I understood what she meant by different. Her complexion was many shades lighter than mine. I had a mix of my parents’ complexion, so I had somewhat of a creamy cappuccino skin. There wouldn’t be many people looking for a baby like me considering how ethnically different the locals seemed to be.

“If I still can’t find them at the end of the month, I’ll take you under my name.”

I did not know whether to be sad or happy when she said that. A part of me was delighted to know I was lucky enough to be taken in by someone like Hellenia. Still, my heart called out to the people who, though I hadn’t known for long, had shown me unconditional love. I doubt my parents were capable enough to find me within a month’s time. They were, after all, in the complete opposite side of the world.

Besides that, Amber must have his reasons for bringing me here.

Hellenia lowered herself to the cherrywood floors, her light lavender dress flaring beautifully around her. She set me down gently and I stood to leave her lap, crossing the spacious bedroom to probe on the furnishings.

“Hellen?” The screen door slid open to reveal a beautiful woman with green hair. I stopped short on my tracks and met her eyes, which were of a similar color. “Dragons bless you, child,” she greeted with a smile.

Fear pooled in my chest as her tall and poised stature entered the room. I hurried back to Hellenia’s side, nearly tripping on my short legs. Luckily enough, she caught me before I face-planted.

“Dear me, you must scare her so.” Hellenia laughed.

“Is this her?” the woman asked.

Thin, willowy fingers swept back my short, red curls as Hellenia welcomed me back to her lap. “Yes. Isn’t she beautiful?”

“She is,” the green-haired woman replied. “Though very unusual. That kid is most probably not from around here.”

Hellenia pulled on my cheeks comfortingly, seating me on her leg. “Don’t be afraid of him, Evy. His name is Kora, and he means you no harm.”

I looked at Hellenia dubiously. He. Did she just say he? His name was Kora?

“Look at her face,” Kora said, chuckling. “It’s almost as though she understood what you said.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think that. How old do you think she is?”

“Probably around ten to twelve months,” Kora replied, pausing as he took a seat on the floor across Hellenia—and he did so with unmatched grace. From his movements alone, it wouldn’t seem as though he was a man at all. From voice to face to hair—what part of him exactly was a man? “I heard from the others. You’re planning on leaving Oblivion?”

She sighed. “Lamia is right,” Hellenia said. “This is no place to raise a child. I wouldn’t want Evyionne to know the life we had—or the life we have now.”

“That is true,” Kora said. His brows furrowed. “But have you thought this through? Leaving this behind is not easy, Hellenia.”

“If I have to go back to the old life I had before this, I’ll be okay. I have saved up enough.”

“I’m not talking about that.” Kora reached forward and took Hellenia’s hand, concerned. “Hellen, you know how very cunning the people we stand against are. You are very vulnerable without Oblivion’s protection. Even if you run away, you’ll still end up being chased. These people do not give up just because you disassociate yourself with us. They will come after you for revenge.”

Hellenia mirrored his concern with sadness. She was speechless for a time. Her lips would part to speak, only to bear no words. Her gaze fell to mine. The worry that I had grown accustom to seeing on my birth mother, Elleria, tainted her bright face.

“She looks like me, doesn’t she? Like some odd fate?” Hellenia remarked softly.

“Indeed. Like you gave birth to her yourself,” Kora said, nodding as he withdrew his hands. He mustered a small smile, though the worry persisted on his brows. “Stay in Oblivion, Hellen. At least until we manage a safer way for you to disappear. Those people will not be easily fooled. It will require elaborate work, but if we can thoroughly plan something…it will at least be better than hastily throwing you out there to fend for yourself.”

“I already gave my word to Lamia to leave by the end of the week.”

“Nonsense.” Kora shook her head. “We all know that is not possible. You know how Lamia is. Though that woman does not say it, she is very worried for you. She said some things out of turn. I am sure she does not mean them.”

Hellenia sighed. “I am not sure, Kora.”

“No need to worry. We have all come to talk to Lamia about the situation. All seven of us. She must be tired of hearing our objections but she does not disagree. Why not talk to her properly?”

“And if we stay, what of Evy? I would have to work, Kora. I cannot stay here and be a burden, especially since there are two of us now. But if I do, no one will be able to take care of her.”

“Let’s call in Safia to help take care of her for the meantime!”

It was neither Kora nor my mother who spoke. Curious, we all turned to the open door to see a doll-faced blonde peeking into the room.

“Safia has long since retired from our affairs. She does not deserve to be burdened with these responsibilities,” Hellenia said.

“No.” The blonde stepped into the room, maintaining the bright and cheerful smile on her face. “She said she doesn’t want to be burdened with our affairs—as in the kind we’re used to dealing with. Anyway, it’s worth a try. And even if she doesn’t agree, there are still nine of us in total who can take care of the kid.”

“Liane is absolutely right,” Kora said. “We can ask Safia. She’s not unreasonable. She won’t refuse. And this is a child we’re talking about. Safia loves children.”

I nibbled on my fist anxiously. They freely discussed this affair in front of me with no regard for whether I understood it or not. Which was common sense. I wasn’t supposed to understand, being the child that I was.

“Alright. Enough of this, everyone.” Hellenia rose to her feet with me in her arms. “It seems Evyionne is getting anxious having so many people in the room. Let’s talk about this another time.”

“What about it? Are you still leaving?” Liane prodded.

Hellenia sighed, carressing my red curls. “No. You are right. Thank you both. I’ll take this under consideration and talk with Lamia. I do admit I acted very rashly when we spoke. If I proceed about this in the manner I’m doing now, I’ll end up putting this child in the danger that I meant to take her away from.”

“So it’s a sheeeeeeee?” Liane squealed, clapping her hands in excitement.

“Yes.” Hellenia laughed.

“Oh great!” Liane clapped. “I’ll go tell the others the good news!”

“Don’t be mistaken. This is only until we conjure that elaborate plan.”

And, like that, the intended one week turned into a month. I waited for that ‘elaborate plan’ to be finished as well as to hear news about my birth parents looking for me. Unfortunately, my hopes bore no fruit on either regard.

Hellenia ended up taking me under her name like she promised, and we were arranged to stay in Oblivion for another year. I wasn’t too sure why, but it would seem to me that the mistresses really did not want Hellenia to leave the House at all. The same went for that Lamia person, no matter how cold she had been to my adoptive mother.

Still, that did not change the fact that I was taken away from my birth parents. It wasn’t like I could tell the ladies about them either…which left me in quite a dilemma.

But before I get to that issue, I needed to understand why Amber had done what he had done. The best clue that I had were his last words to me. For him to take so much risk to take me away that he ended up crumbling to ashes…it was clear that the problem at hand wasn’t very simple.

The things I could do were very limited. Having barely gained mobility from the past eight months, the places I could go to were very limited as well. Thankfully enough, unlike my previous home, the doors in the place were the sliding type. This meant I could jam my fingers between them and push them open easily. Without knobs, my life had gotten tons easier.

It still sucked, to be honest. I wasn’t familiar with the building yet. It wasn’t every day that I was left alone, and that woman, Hellenia, who was now my mother in name, had been by my side day and night for the past two weeks. I had planned on looking for the library to see if I could go through some stuff, but I found a woman dancing instead.

Wow, I thought. Without realizing it, I had paused, mesmerized by the beauty of the performance. Curious, I peeked past the frame of the open door. Long muslin scarves flagged about in the air, dancing across pale skin as the woman frolicked about in accord with the silence. Her feet were the very beat to her rhythm and the sighing wind about her was the music.

It wasn’t long before she realized I was watching.

She stopped, and I retreated behind the door. I was intending to make a hasty escape but, as expected, got caught. Being slow and clumsy, barely able to walk on my two legs, it wasn’t as though I could get away.

She picked me up and raised me to her eye level. “Goodness, how did you get here? Aren’t you supposed to be with your mother?” she asked.

I stared at her and cooed. “Urmmmm…”

She rolled her caramel eyes. “Ha! It’s so weird to say one of us have become a mother. That isn’t really something that went through our minds, you know?” She pulled me to her sweaty chest and brought me into the room she had been dancing in. “You’re an adventurous kid, aren’t you? I have heard a bit from you from the others…it seems you’re called Evyionne? That’s a weird name. You must come from the West.”

I perked up at that.

Finally. A clue.

“Well, Evyi—eh, that’s a little too hard to pronounce. Let’s stick with Evy. I’ll learn to say your name another time. Since you’re here, Hellenia’s bound to come looking for you any second now. But until then, what do you think of my dance?”

She showed me a few more of her moves and I clapped enthusiastically. Her tricks and techniques were unlike anything I had seen before whether in this lifetime or the past. Were it not for the fact that I was in this limiting prison of a body, I would definitely give her more compliment.

“Neilly! Neilly!”

A head full of red hair popped into the dance room. “Have you—”

My adoptive mother saw me sitting on the floor before the dancing woman. The tension eased away from her shoulders and was quickly replaced with relief. “Dear dragons above,” she muttered. “Neilly…”

Neilly put a hand over her heart, raising both brows at my mother. “What? It’s not like I took her. She came here all by herself!” Neilly said.

Hellenia broke into a tired smile as she caught my eyes. “What am I going to do with you?”

Neilly chuckled. “You’re not regretting this now, are you?”

“No. The opposite,” Hellenia replied as she came to pick me up. She had looked at me in a chagrined, yet loving manner. My small fingers instinctively fisted around her large and long fingers. “Quite the opposite.”