Exile landed in a field of grass. The same ramp which had served to load all the passengers on now opened again, this time to let them out.

In the middle of the throng, Luciola shifted his weight from foot to foot, bored. It had been the work of a few minutes to grab his bag and leave, but it looked as though unloading their vanship would take considerably longer. Daphne had insisted that he, in her words, "get dressed up nice", and so he had bought and was wearing a slightly worn pair of brown slacks and a white shirt. The collar itched, and the shoes he had bought to wear with it had a stain that looked suspiciously like blood on the uppers. Then again, that was probably why they had been so cheap.

Daphne had left him in the crowd to help Tatiana and Alister unload their vanship. The lights of a town were visible in the distance; it seemed that people were still up and about despite the late hour.

Or maybe Exile's descent woke them up. They could hardly fail to miss it, after all.

It was still summer, but the wind was cold. One by one, people started to move towards the town. Some walked and some ran, but they were all heading to the same place. As the crowd separated, Luciola was free to run, and so he did. He thought he might burst with nerves if he didn't.

Lord Dio is here. He must be here. It's only a matter of time now.

&

Dio paced in front of his house. He felt odd for some reason, restless. Something is happening. Something is going to happen soon. What? What's coming? He rubbed his forehead, feeling the smooth scar tissue where his Guild mark had been. His thoughts whirled like the wind before a storm.

A swarm of fireflies buzzed around him, illuminating his form. Dunya had been persuaded to hand over the knife he had bought; he drew it from the sheath to watch the flashing lights reflect off the blade. It was double-edged and still sharp.

He spun it and tossed it from hand to hand, feeling its weight. Well, the balance is good, at least. So it's not just decoration. Something about the blade caught his attention, and he stared at it. It was too dark to be made of steel, and the light shining on it caused to glitter in an odd way. This knife is a Guild weapon.

He dropped the knife in shock and sunk to his knees. Why? Why can't I escape them? No matter what I do or how far I go… "They won't leave me alone."

"Dio?"

The fireflies stopped flashing. He looked up to see Irena silhouetted in the doorway. Her face could not be seen, but she sounded concerned. "Come back inside, my sister's worried about you. It's past midnight."

She left the doorway to offer him her hand. Quickly, he sheathed his knife. "It's getting chilly; come on."

He shook his head. "Not yet."

Irena shrugged. "Suit yourself, then. Is there any reason why you've decided to sit around out here in the dark by yourself, or is it just something you wanted to do on a whim? I know it's a bit crowded inside…"

He turned away from her, staring in the direction of the town. He could hear the faint sounds of a celebration. "Exile has landed. Someone…someone important to me is coming here. I have to greet him when he does."

She sat down next to him in the dust, smoothing her skirt out. "Would you like me to wait with you?"

"If you want."

She grinned at him; the fireflies' light reflected off her teeth. "So, have you ever read the Odysseid?"

He blinked. What kind of question is that? "Of course. My…my tutors started me on the unabridged version when I was nine."

"Well then, while you're waiting, maybe you can sum it up for me and I can tell my brothers and Katya all about it."

Dio was surprised to find himself smiling. "Sure. It's a sequel to the Illiad, which you've read. Laertiades, who you should remember as a general in the Achaean army, sets off for home after the war is over. It should have been a quick trip, but…"

&

The town's layout lacked any sort of formal planning, with the end result being that the buildings sprawled outwards from the center in a rough circle shape. Luciola realized this as he drew closer and the open fields suddenly gave way to shabby buildings. His lungs burned, so he slowed to a walk.

The town was a hive of activity. As the newcomers saw their friends and relatives, they rushed to greet them. Amidst all this bustle and merriment, Luciola walked alone.

He sighed and sat down on a convenient crate, thinking. Searching such a large area would be impractical. As time-consuming and possibly pointless as it was, he supposed asking random townspeople if they'd seen Claus or Dio was a better idea. Better yet, I'll ask them if they've seen Lavie. Claus' hair and eyes are fairly common, but nobody could mistake red hair like hers.

A man with a Guild mark walked past, wearing the bloodstained apron of a butcher. He stopped in front of Luciola, looking at him curiously. "You must be one of the new arrivals. No family around here, huh?"

Luciola blinked and shook his head. Why is he talking to me? "No, but I am looking for somebody. Have you seen a girl with short red hair recently?"

The man frowned, thinking. "Not recently, but yeah, I know who you mean. Miss Lavie Head, right? Wait right here; I'll go ask the grocer if he's seen her."

He ran off. Luciola scanned the crowd as he departed, searching for a hint of white hair. There are a lot of Guild members here, but none of them have white hair…wait. Over there…no, not short enough. He sighed. I hope that man comes back soon.

As if on cue, the butcher jogged back up to him. "Hey, kid. The old man who runs the general store saw her just the other day. She lives about five minutes out of town, by the dirt road."

Luciola nodded gratefully before the man's words even registered. "Wait a minute. How did you know who I'm looking for?"

He shrugged. "Everyone knows Miss Head and Mr. Valca; they're celebrities around here! They were responsible for helping take down that woman, and the first people to settle here. I should warn you, they don't do interviews."

Luciola felt a smile spread across his face. "That's alright, I'm a friend of theirs. The main road, right?" He would have left then, but something stopped him. "And if a girl with black wavy hair and a blue dress comes by, point her in that direction too."

"Yeah, good l—!"

Luciola took off at a run, dodging through the crowd. Whatever the man had been about to say was lost; he could hear nothing except the blood pounding in his ears.

So close…Finally, after all this time, I know where he is.

&

"…Anyway, after what she'd been through, his loyal wife wanted to make sure it was really her husband standing in front of her, so she told her servant to move their bed. Now, what only she and Laertiades knew was that the bed couldn't be moved—one of the bedposts was carved out of a tree that he had cut down to build the house, and it was still rooted in the ground. When she gave the order, he blurted out that there was no way the bed could be moved, and she knew for sure that he was her husband."

Dio paused and grinned at his audience. Because of Exile landing, Dunya had let her younger siblings stay up late. One by one, they had joined Irena outside. Aleksander was bored and sleepy, but the rest were listening, engrossed in the story. Wow, and it's only a summary. I hope they enjoy the actual book this much.

Katya raised her hand. "So then what happened?"

He shrugged. "Then they all lived happily ever after…well, except for the suitors, since they're dead."

Katya cheered. The door behind her opened, and Dunya poked her head out. "Okay, now you really do have to get ready for bed, everyone. Dio, please come back in."

The children groaned, but they all obeyed their sister. Dio stood and stretched, shaking his head. "Not yet. Someone's coming, and I have to be there when they arrive."

Dunya sighed and went back inside. She was sure he'd come back in when it got colder.

Dio stared in the direction of the town. Something is coming, but I can only wait here for now. Luciola…you're getting closer, and there's nothing I can do but wait. Slowly, he sat down in the dust and picked up the knife he had dropped earlier. A white moth fluttered out of the grass and around his head.

He glanced at it blankly. This moth…it reminds me of the Guild, for some reason. His eyes narrowed and the blade flashed in the moonlight, cleaving the moth in half. As the two halves began to fall to the ground, he sliced it into quarters.

The fireflies in the grass came out again, buzzing around the moth's corpse and Dio's feet. He smiled. Luciola…

From town, Dio thought he could hear the faint sound of someone running.

&

Luciola ran.

His lungs were burning, his legs ached, but he couldn't stop moving forwards. So long…it took me so long to reach this point. Lord Dio…please, please be there. If you aren't, I… He slowed to a walk to catch his breath. I'm living in a body that's not my own, with a face that's not my own. If Lord Dio isn't there, if this is another dead end, I don't think I could go on living.

He shook his head, irritated. I can't keep thinking about things like that, not when I'm so close.

Much farther down the road, he spotted something that took his breath away—a figure in white, standing next to a dark mass. His eyes went wide in shock. White—white hair—oh, Lord Dio.

He broke into a run again, faster. As he ran, the shape resolved itself into a young man standing in the road by a small house. He was almost level with them when a cloud of fireflies rose in front of him, so dense that it was like facing a wall of flashing lights. And then, as quickly as they appeared, they passed, leaving him standing in front of the one person he had spent so much time trying to find.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

&

The man stared at him, shaking. His eyes were bright with tears. Dio stared back at him. He's different. His face, eyes, body…it's all different. He's taller than—than he was before. That's not his natural hair color, either. But still, something about him…the way he carries himself… He had to choke back a sob for a few seconds. It can't be. But… His voice came out in a whisper. "That night when we were small…that first night after Delphine gave me to you, and I shared my food with you under the table after everyone else was gone…what did I whisper in your ear?"

The man swallowed hard. "I remember. 'You know what we are, Luciola? We're friends.'"

The tears Dio had been trying to hold back spilled over. "Luc…Luciola? Luciola!"

He nodded, trembling. "…Lord Dio."

Dio flung himself into his arms.

&

Luciola wrapped his arms around Dio as tightly as he could. He was half afraid he might vanish if he didn't. He seems smaller than before, or maybe it's because this body is taller. He cut his hair or had someone do it for him. And he's wearing someone else's cast-off clothes; probably Claus'. He felt an odd twinge of jealousy at this realization.

And his face… "Lord Dio, what happened to your Guild mark?"

Dio lifted his head from Luciola's shoulder to stare at him before disentangling one arm to push his bangs away from his forehead. "I had to get rid of it."

Luciola gasped at the sight. Pale scars crisscrossed each other on Dio's forehead; one nicked his left eyebrow. Any sign that there had ever been a Guild mark on his forehead had been obliterated. With trembling fingers, he reached up to touch the spot where it had once been.

"Lord Dio, I…"

"Stop." Dio smiled at him. "I don't want you to call me 'lord' anymore, okay? I'm not a Guild member anymore, and neither are you."

That's not what I was going to say. I was going to tell you…Lord Dio, I was going to tell you that I love you.

But as he gazed into Dio's eyes, he found it didn't need to be said.

Dio's head thudded back onto his shoulder. "Everyone told me you were dead, that you died to save me…but you came back. I knew you would."

Luciola realized he was smiling. "Of course I did. And I'll never leave you again."