Eisha looked at him first, then she suddenly started laughing. Northern was slightly confused as he watched his mother crack up—one hell of a laugh, the kind that came from deep in the chest.

She calmed down gently, sweeping a tear from the corner of her right eye with a finger.

Northern was still looking at her, tempted to ask what was so funny, but it would have undoubtedly come out with a tone that would make his mother knock the sense back into his head.

So he just watched Eisha with a subtle mix that tilted more towards confusion than the amusement of 'I made mother laugh. Interesting.'

Eisha set her gaze on him fondly.

"My elf form—there's nothing different about it." She smiled at whatever expression he was making. "Indeed, elves can alter their shape and form as they wish when we want to wear a human guise, but we can also decide to still keep our elven features."

"Oh." Northern understood now. The reason for her laughter—she must have found him particularly cute when he asked that question.

Suddenly he was feeling awkward. Like a child who'd asked something obvious and only realized it after the words left his mouth.

"I can still show you." Eisha smiled and waved her hand slightly.

As she did, her body morphed, but only slightly. Her bright amber eyes were still bright amber and her blonde hair was still blonde. Her ears were pointed outward and sharp at their edges, and she looked slightly taller—almost as tall as Northern himself.

She looked mostly the same both as elf and human, but Northern considered her elven form more elegant and beautiful for some unknown reason. Something about the way her features sharpened, perhaps. The way she seemed to belong to something older than the world he knew.

Eisha tilted her head. "Satisfied?"

Northern smiled. "Yes, mother."

She nodded and reverted to her human form.

"Ah, right." Northern remembered something crucial and looked at his mother. "I caught a guy that had invaded the Tharion Citadel. He's from Stuart—perhaps we could interrogate him together?"

Eisha's face turned serious immediately.

"Really? Of course we can." Her eyes sharpened with interest. "I've been wanting to know what that old man has been up to, after all."

Northern turned, gesturing for his mother to follow, which she did.

He said as they walked, "I've been curious, mother. Do you know about the dark elves? I hear they're extinct, but I think Rughsbourgh and Koll had something to do with them."

The sound of Rughsbourgh's name made Eisha's face twist with barely contained anger.

The man, after all, was the reason why her baby boy had suffered so much. The day was still like yesterday before her eyes—when she thought Northern was simply going to the Academy. What harm could it do? And all of a sudden, she could not hear from her son anymore.

If not for that evil man, she stubbornly believed she and Shin would have been able to build a perfect life for him. One where he wouldn't be involved in all the cruelties of the world and have to suffer one bit.

She reined in her anger and hostility to answer her son's question.

"Dark elves were just a folktale even by the time I was born. The elven kingdom used to be much larger. Much grander." She paused, gathering old memories. "And in those times, the Dark Elves and Light Elves lived together. The stories didn't exactly describe it as harmony, but we at least coexisted. I just think there were conflicts from time to time."

They walked along the stairs, shoes clinking on metal steps.

"What could've caused the division was the deterioration of the Elven land. We all were in a world of our own until some really powerful people in the underworld decided that they owned the land." Eisha's voice carried an edge of old bitterness. "They pursued us out of our own home after a war that wiped the majority of us out. Stuart was a little town that took us in and later flourished."

Her voice sounded softer now. "The dark ones... they were not content with staying small like we were. So they kept fighting—so the books said—fighting for land, losing themselves until nothing of them was left."

They finally reached a hall. A much lower floor than the one Shin was on.

"I see..." Northern said.

He was thinking about Aster, who was groomed for simply one reason—to go back to Stuart and take back what was theirs. He and whoever that instructor was greatly believed they could reclaim Stuart.

Either they were delusional beyond what delusion often connoted, or they had something Northern wasn't seeing. Not to mention there were elves from Stuart on Tra-el too.

He had several questions the more he thought about it.

Questions such as: how did the elves from Stuart always manage to come to Tra-el—or better put, the lesser fragment—but find it harder to return to Stuart?

The method had to be incredibly difficult. So much so that the dark elves had to form an alliance with Koll and silently plan for hundreds of years.

'There have to be others.'

Aster was still alive. Northern was going to send a clone to Drywall and bring Aster to Ryugan after he was done with the Grand Archive. For now...

Northern finally stopped in front of a black metal door and opened it.

He and Eisha entered a simple room. It had elegant interior decor, but when brought into close contrast with Shin's room, it lacked greatly in elegance and seemed average.

There were simply chairs, beds, a plain dark-colored carpet with crude yet somewhat amusing designs. The walls were darkened and the entire atmosphere of the room carried that same muted quality.

Two beds were positioned opposite each other, with a center table and chairs between them. Spacious enough for both dwellers not to have to worry about getting in each other's way.

As Northern and his mother entered, Alystren and the elf quickly sat up. The man looked at Northern—obviously pissed, but somehow hiding it behind a smile.

"Stars, Rian! Is that how it is now? Because of your suspicions of me, you throw me around like a criminal?" He spread his hands in mock hurt. "This sort of hurts, you know?"

Northern fixed the man with a cold glare and shrugged.

"You brought this upon yourself. All I ask for is honesty, and yet..." He let the pause stretch. "Somehow, you keep playing me."

He grabbed a chair and offered it to his mother, waited until she sat down before finding one for himself.

Then he looked at both of them and said simply:

"Well, let's start all over again, okay? Who are you guys, and why were you after my mother?"

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