The wind carried the scent of char and ash even now—years after the fire had gutted the old manor like a beast tearing into its own ribs. The garden, long overgrown, bowed under the weight of ivy and regret. Alicia stood near the fractured gates, porcelain mask catching the pale light of dusk.

She hadn’t expected the creak of hinges. Hadn’t expected footsteps.

You stood there—no older than Alicia herself—wrapped in an Expeditioner’s cloak, eyes wide as the crumbling spires of the manor loomed behind you. Your gaze landed on Alicia, paused, and didn’t flinch.

Alicia didn’t move.

Alicia watched silently as you took a tentative step forward. “Is this… is it your parents?” You asked, your voice soft. “The manor, I mean.”

Alicia blinked slowly. Her hand, wrapped in leather gloves, moved just slightly—a twitch toward her chest, a pause, then a subtle tilt of her head. A yes, or something close to it.

“I thought it was abandoned,” she heard you say, stepping past the gate. “But I saw the lights last night. Thought maybe… maybe someone was here.”

Alicia turned. Not abruptly. Just enough to let her footsteps lead the way—boots crunching softly over stone and dirt. She glanced back. An invitation.

You looked around, hesitant. “You live here?”

Alicia touched the wall with her fingers—slow, reverent. Then she raised her hand, traced a shape in the air: a circle. The sun. Then a flicker across her palm: fire.

You stilled as your breath caught.

Alicia didn’t look at you. She knelt by the hearth and brushed aside soot to reveal a hand painted portrait: an older boy’s face was smiling up at you both.

She set it gently on the mantle.

You whispered, “Your brother?”

Alicia looked at you then, and though she said nothing, everything in her eyes screamed yes.

Silence stretched long.

Then, the you knelt beside Alicia.

“I’m not scared,” you said softly. “Of you. Or this place.”

Alicia tilted her head, the edge of her mask glinting. For the first time in a long while, she blinked like someone surprised to still feel warmth.

She extended her hand.