"Um...what about the 'friends' part?" Ren asked as soon as Darem disappeared behind the castle doors.

"You mean 'best friends' part." Dan corrected him with a frown. "Somehow I feel like I am not going to get along with Ace's brother."

"Why is that?" Ren asked his brother.

"It's a brother's intuition, Ren." Dan answered him with a shrug.

"You are all neither my 'friends' or my 'best friends'." Ace said, looking annoyed. "And let's go. I think it's about time for us to leave."

As Ace turned the other way around, Nate was there blocking his way. "No, we are not. We came here to get you cured of whatever illness you have."

Ace and Nate had a staring contest then. With Ace half an inch taller than Nate and with his natural look of death I thought for sure that Nate would lose, but no. Nate held his ground and stood firm. I couldn't help but stare at this cool side of Nate.
"Fine." Ace finally said and headed for the castle. "But if things get bad, we leave." Then we all made our way to the castle door and got ourselves in.

Inside, I appreciated the uniqueness of the palace. Wall covered in vines curling here and there making the place look old yet beautiful at the same time. Different varieties of plants hung on walls, the stairs, and the corners of the room.

I would have described more of the palace if it weren't for the footsteps coming from the second floor. We all looked up to see Darem skipping steps as he made his way down the stairs. A huge grin plastered on his face as he looked behind him.

"There he is!" Said Darem and in a matter of seconds, I saw two figures coming down from the stairs. One is a woman with beautiful straight black hair and a sharp nose. Her skin was pale and tight and she had green eyes. She was wearing a purple silk flowy dress that has a connected cape of sheer purple. A golden cuff was at her upper right arm and a bunch of bracelets decorated her wrist. She was also wearing a golden crown. She looks like a goddess.

Next to her is another good-looking male elf. He seemed to be a few years older than Darem and had long silver hair that he pinned the sides to his back. He was wearing something more formal with a golden brown long-sleeved coat that has cuffs at the side and feathery designs that form a vest, black pants, and boots. The elf also wore a ring around his head that has a curving design at the front. Golden ear cuffs glittered on each ear as he ran.

The two joined Darem as they made their way to us. Both elves looked slightly shocked and relieved to see Ace.

"Ace." The woman said and clasped a hand to her mouth. "My son, is that you?"

"Mother." Ace answered.

"Good to see you, little brother. Big brother misses you so much!" Said the elf with the white hair as he looked at Ace. "Can I hug you?"

"No." Ace gave his brother a warning look when he attempted to hug him anyway.

"Mom, Eltur." Darem called the attention of the two as he directed his gaze on me. "Ace brought a girl!" He beamed and rudely pointed a finger at me.

If I had a knife with me then I would have chopped off his finger, but the only thing I could do then was swallow and hide behind Ren when the two elves turned their attention to me. They gasped before looking at Ace.

"Ace....." The woman said in disbelief and looked at Ace as if he were a stranger.

Do any of the princes have a normal family? I guess not.

"Way the go, little brother!" He said and leaned in to look closer at Ace. "Hey, wait a minute. Your ears. Did you get your magic back?"

"Yes."

"I knew something looked different in him." Muttered Darem and looked at Ace too.

A look of confusion crossed the elf's face. "Why? I thought you hated it."

"Something came up and I have to use it." Came Ace's reply.

"But nine years, Ace. You almost had it."

"I told you something came up. Just forget about it." He said irritably. "And it's not something to worry about anymore. I'm old enough to protect myself."

Somehow, hearing that Ace gave up losing his unwanted gift just to help me made me feel guilty all over again. Especially with his family standing in front of me. So I admitted, "It's my fault. I ran away from the castle with a cloaked hood and there was no way to find me. PRINCE Ace used his powers to bring me back to Thalia."

The moment I said it resulted in two expressions from the Feraden brothers; Ace looks like he was going to murder me while Eltur and Darem have sparked in their eyes. They were shining.

Um....was it something I said?

"Our brother sacrificed killing his powers to save you?" Asked Darem. A huge smile on his face.

"..Pretty much?"

Eltur bellowed in laughing and wrapped an arm around Ace's shoulder. "Oh baby brother! I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Shut up!" Ace said and pushed his brother away from him.

All of a sudden I was pushed back towards Ren, who then steadied me. "Are you alright?" He asked in concern.

"Yeah. Thanks." I answered and smiled at him.

"Now that is cute." Dan, the person who pushed me, said. He looked at Ace's brothers with a smug look on his face, which Eltur and Darem did not appreciate.

"Who are you again?" Asked Eltur. His eyes showing his distaste in Dan.

"Prince Daniel from Sanver. A werewolf. The vampire over there," he pointed at Nate, "Is prince Nathaniel Denver from Vertez. And the guy who looks just like me is my twin brother Prince Renevier Rutledge." Dan grinned wickedly at Ace's brothers.

"You look like me. I'm older than you by a few minutes!" Argued Ren.

Darem gave Dan a look. "You know it is not nice to push a girl."

"My brother is capable so I don't see what's the problem?" Again with that smug look of his.

How about I deck him over the head then we'll know what's the problem?

"Dan, what are you doing?" Ren hissed behind me.

Dan looked over at his brother and gave him a wink. "It's a brother thing, Ren." Then looking back at the two elves he added, "Don't you agree gentlemen?"

"Yeah." They said.

I was so confused by what just happened that I dare look at Ren for some explanation, but he seemed as clueless as I am. I looked at Nate instead and found him looking back at me. Once he saw me looking, his gaze drifted down just below my nose and he blushed while looking away.

Is he angry?

The Queen of the Elves suddenly approached me and held my hands. "I heard a lot about you from the other kingdoms. My name is Queen Siera Feradin."

I gulped. I slowly retrieved my hands and gathered my dirtied dress and curtsied. "It's an honor, Queen Siera. I'm Princess Rosalie." I said. She gave me a warm smile.

"How is my son back at the palace?" She asked.

I hesitantly glanced at PRINCE Ace to see him leering at me. I gulped. "He's reading books. Lots of it." I said. And I hope that the queen won't ask any more questions or it might cost me my life. That was why I was thankful when Ace's brother intervened.

"Prince Darem Feradin." Darem introduced himself and grinned. Then Eltur appeared next. "Prince Eltur Feradin." Prince Eltur grinned. "What do you think of our brother?"

Oh boy..."I-"

"Will you all just – Argh!" Our attention quickly focused on Ace who was clutching his head and stumbling back in pain.

"Ace"

"Little brother!"

We all rushed into him. Eltur caught Ace's arm just before he fell down and helped steady him.

"What's wrong with him?" Darem asked as he watched Ace's agonizing face. He was starting to turn pale as a sheet.

Suddenly, Queen Siera rushed to Ace's side and cupped his face. She placed her forehead against his then looked back at us. "It's his power."

Eltur looked over at his mother for an explanation. "Mom, what do you mean?"

Queen Siera brushed Ace's hair back in concern. "When an elf attempts to kill his powers, it will be stored somewhere deep within his body and gather in one place. The longer it's not used, the more power it stores, but when an elf uses his powers it comes flowing out like rapid currents. Imagine filling a tub with water and pushing it all the way down with tremendous force. Normally, that amount of force would not kill the beholder and only make them puke, but in Ace's case, I am not so sure. His power is different after all."

"Can't you do something, Queen Siera?" I asked.

Queen Siera smiled at me, but it doesn't seem to reach her eyes. "I'll see what I can do. The other problem here is his body. It's not used to handling his powers anymore that it's breaking him. Perhaps I could absorb some of his power, store it within me, and giving it back to him at a slow pace."

Darem came to Ace's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Baby brother, we got you, okay? We'll help." Eltur assured him.

"Whatever." Ace managed to say.

The palace door suddenly opened. "Ais?" Upon hearing the voice, Ace suddenly regained strength and pushed Eltur away, and stood as if he were not in pain anymore. Curious upon seeing Ace's weird behavior, I glanced at the door to see who it was.

It was a 4-year-old kid with black hair and blue eyes just like Ace. A little sunflower, the same color as her dress, was placed on her hair and near her little elf ears When she saw him, she let out an excitedly squeal and ran towards him. I never saw Ace smile before or show any signs of being soft to either an animal or a kid. But as of now, there was a softness in Ace's eyes as he bent down and picked up the little girl.

"Hey, Nora." He said.

"Bwother Ais!! You're back!!" Scream the little girl in glee.

"Of course I came back." Grinned Ace making me look at Ren, Dan, and Nate to see if they were actually seeing what I'm seeing. Judging by the drop of their jaws and a few shakes of their head to see if they were dreaming confirmed my suspicion.

This was not a dream. Ace is smiling! And he looks good! Ew!

"Are you bwack for good now?" Asked Nora hopefully.

"Not yet. I still need to leave after a few complications are fixed."

"Can I hewp?"

"I would rather you not."

The little girls suddenly looked around and saw that there are a few unfamiliar faces in the place. She beamed. "We have wisitors?" She said excitedly.

Darem came over and patted her head. "You bet, Nora. They are the people who live with Ace back at Thalia. Why don't you introduce yourself to them?"

"Okay." She beamed and asked Ace if she could get down. As funny as it sounds, Ace looked reluctant to let her go, but he put her down anyway.

Nora then stood in front of us as she made a curtsy. "My name is Princess Nora Fwaden. My mother is Queen Siera Fwaden. My father is King Klaus Fwaden and my brothers are Prince Eltur, Dawen, and Ais Fwaden."

Without even thinking of it, I pinched Ren's arm because it was so cute hearing her say Fwaden instead of Feraden. Lucky for me, Ren did not react and I looked at him only to find that he also feels the same way.

She's so cute!

"Hi Nora. My name is Rose." I said and pointed to myself. "These are Prince Ren, Dan, and Nate." I pointed to each one of them.

Nora's gaze darted towards the twins and tilted her head to the side. "They both look alike." She commented making Nate snort burst out in laughter while Ren and Dan only exchanged looks.

"She's so cute I wanna cuddle her." Ren whispered to me.

"Me too." I said making Ren grin. "But it's best that we do not."

"Why?"

Instead of answering him, I gestured towards Ace, who was giving us warning looks. "I think that look means to not touch his baby sister."

"Selfish bastard." Ren muttered. A bit disappointed that we could not cuddle little Nora.

At that moment, Eltur placed a hand on Nora's shoulder. "Baby, why don't you go upstairs? Get some rest?"

Nora looked up at her brother and pouted. "But I just got here after my twaining."

"That's exactly why you need to go."

"No!" She said stubbornly and ran towards Ace, who then picked her up and carried her again. "I wanna spend time with Aish! He just got back!"

"Nora, come on." This time Darem tried to persuade their sister but with no luck.

"No!" She said and turned to Ace and buried her face on his chest. Ace only brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips as he did. Looking at him and judging by the way that he acts with Nora, I could say that he really has a soft spot specifically for his baby sister. He doesn't look like a demon now.

Queen Siera came to Ace and Nora and tried speaking to her daughter, but looking at it, it doesn't seem to work. Nora just wouldn't listen.

"This is bad." Eltur muttered under his breath but loud enough for us to hear. "We need to get Nora out of here."

I looked at him. Confused on why he would ask such a darling to leave in our presence. "Why? She looks happy. And Ace looks happy too." I said.

"Look at him." Eltur said and we all looked at Ace. Despite the loving image that Ace was showing to his younger sister you can see a few droplets of sweat forming on his forehead, eyes seeming unfocused, and skin turning pale. "He's suffering from the inside because he doesn't want Nora to see him weak and worry."

"Doesn't make sense why he would pretend to be strong when he's not." I said.

At that, Eltur looked at me and smiled. "Well, that's just that. When you have a sibling who's younger than you, you do everything to become a good role model to them. You don't show signs of weakness and would always appear strong when you're not. You want them to look up to you. Since Nora is the only younger sibling of Ace, he loves her very much and would only smile and show some softness towards her." And that's when I did see that Ace is covering up his suffering from Nora.

Hearing his words made me remember something. My own sister Stella. Only seven years old yet she already knows a lot. She's always curious about stuff and would not stop until she finds a decent answer to things. I remember how I always struggled to answer her questions even though I have no idea what she was asking me about. I would just say clever things and pretend to be certain about my answers just to impress her. Sometimes I always find it annoying that she asks too many questions, but by the end of the day it will all be worth it when you look at me with admiration in her eyes and tell me that I'm the best sister in the world.

I miss her.

Somehow I wanted to kick myself for not seeing it. I suddenly felt guilty and decided to head to where Ace and Nora were. Once I neared them did I stop and leveled myself to Nora who was still in Ace's arms. "Hey, Nora." I smiled.

"Hi." She replied.

"How old are you?"

"Fwour." She answered.

"That's nice." I answered. "Do you want to spend time with your brother?"

"I do."

"Do you love your brother?"

"Yes."

"And you know that he loves you, right?" At this, I felt Ace's gaze on me and looked up to see him studying me. He was probably wondering where I'm going with this conversation.

Nora nodded at my question.

I smiled. "Good then. Then you know that he won't leave you just like that. He'll still be here, but as of now he can't spend some time with you yet." I said and looked at her in the eyes for her to understand. "You see, your brother is tired and needs rest. It has been a really long journey for us. And I bet that you need rest too."

Nora looked at me as she contemplated on my words. She looked at Ace next. "I'm going to sleep. You should too, Aish." She said.

"Alright." Said Ace as he gently set her down and kissed her forehead. At this, I have to cover my mouth with my hand at the sight. Ace is being affectionate. Right now at least. "Sleep well and take care."

I smiled down at Nora when I found her looking at me. She grinned. "Take care of my bwother!" She said and hopped her way up the stairs to where I assume is where her room is.

She's so cute! I wish I could have held her.

"Well, that was easy." Darem said standing beside me looking up at the staircase where Nora went.

I shrugged. "Well, I do have a baby sister too." I smiled at the memory of Stella.

"Enough chit-chat. Let's help Ace."