The thing about grief is that it's different for each person. Some people can come to terms with it quickly. Others can't.

She couldn't.

Venti was gone. And while the rest of us were moving on okay, Reesa... that is, our stand-in Princess, with no memories of her past. Well, she wasn't. She would sit or stand in Venti's old resting place for hours. She'd vanish for days at a time. Whenever someone offered to help, she'd turn on that million G smile and say she was fine, and thank them for caring.

I though we should let her be for a while. Probably a stupid thing to think, but Reesa... well, she liked to do things her own way. In her own time. Forcing things wasn't really my style anyways. Arthur was in the same boat as me, both of us not really sure what to do for her. Both of us worried about her, but we left it alone, hoping she'd come to one, or both of us.

Leon was finally the one to get the ball rolling. So to speak.

Dylas grimaced as Leon shoved him through the door that separated Porcoline's restaurant from Arthur's office, kicking the door firmly closed behind them.

"You couldn't ask?" the other Guardian muttered in annoyance.

"It's urgent," Leon retorted. "And it's about Reesa."

That made Dylas shut up. Reesa was a careful subject between the three of them; technically she was dating all three and while it had come close to blows, they had all eventually settled into a somewhat comfortable rhythm. And it did seem like Reesa loved all of them fairly equally too. At least there had been no indication of favoritism from the princess...

Arthur was not standing behind his desk hard at work, for once. He was, in fact, pacing in front of it. When Dylas and Leon both stopped in front of him, he looked up, worry written all over his face.

"I've spoken to Mr. Volkanon, Clorica, and Vishanl," the actual prince said without preamble. "All of them say they think she's been eating, but she has lost a dreadful amount of weight. Both Vishanl and Clorica have seen her working in her fields, much harder than she used to. Nancy and Dr. Jones both tell me she's come in with rather extreme injuries and exhaustion after being away for several days."

Leon nodded a little.

"I've noticed one or the other hovering around the entrance to the castle when she's gone off for a few days," he said. "They trade places too, when one has waited a while. I don't think they've gotten Dolce in on it yet, but she's not dim. She'll catch on soon, if she hasn't already."

"Okay, but what are we supposed to do?" Dylas interrupted, shaking his head a little. "Reesa's not going to talk to any of us if we try to force it you know. Idiot that she is..."

"We have to try, Dylas," Arthur said quietly, nudging his glasses slightly up his nose. "At the rate she's going, she'll do irreparable damage, or she may well kill herself over this."

Leon nodded again as a little chill passed through Dylas.

"It's a good front she's got," the fox-eared man said, twirling his closed peacock-feather fan in his hand. "If I didn't know her as well as I do, I'd probably even believe it. But if you take the time to look past it, she's all broken up inside, and she doesn't know how to work through it."

"All right, I get it," Dylas snapped, running a hand through his hair. "But really, what are we supposed to do?"

"Supporting her from a distance isn't working, I'll admit," Arthur sighed. "And I am as unwilling as you to force our presence on her..."

"Fortunately for you both, I'm not," Leon retorted. "Come on. She's getting looked after whether she likes it or not!"

Dylas blinked as Leon moved for the door, then scrambled to follow; odd friendship or not, no way was he going to let Leon take all the credit for helping her out! Arthur wasn't far behind, either.

"First we have to track her down," the prince said as they entered the warm summer air of Selphia. "We don't even know where she is now."

"Won't be hard," Leon shrugged. "I can have the foxes find her. Or we can do it the boring way."

Dylas shook his head a little.

"If we're going to do this, better to do it fast before someone figures out what we're doing. Like Kiel. Kid can't keep a secret to save his life. And if the girls get involved..."

Leon grimaced a little, and even Arthur cringed slightly. It was one thing if it was just the three of them; they were all close to Reesa. They would probably be forgiven eventually. But if the whole town got involved? That would be trouble.

"Right."

Leon's foxes were magical in nature, a remnant of his time as a Guardian. They were also very very smart. They ran ahead of the trio into the palace and Reesa's empty bedroom. The three men hovered in the doorway, but when no little green-haired psuedo-princess popped up to ask what they were doing, they cautiously entered.

Reesa's room was relatively neat, though here and there were little things she'd picked up. Flowers in a vase on her windowsill, from her last date with him, Dylas noted with some small pride. That silly chipsqueak plushie thing she kept at the head of her bed because she said it helped her sleep... a few clothes too.

The foxes were sniffing around, picking up trails old and new, there were some abortive attempts in all directions that had Leon reminding the mischief-makers that they wanted the most recent trail.

The most recent trail led the foxes out to Venti's chamber, then through the main door of the castle. In a way it was a little bit of a relief for the three to not go out the same way they'd gone in... And given that the courtyard had filled with people going here and there on their daily errands, it would have raised more than a few questions. Questions none of them wanted to answer.

Arthur nodded to the people who called his name, raising a hand slightly in greeting even as he kept following the other two. Dylas and Leon took no notice of their surroundings, or the people trying to say hello. For Dylas, this wasn't too far from his normal behavior, but Leon's lack of sarcasm left a few raised eyebrows and concerned faces at their backs.

They were led out of town, and into the monster-riddled plain of Selphia. Fortunately all three of them were armed, and knew how to use their weapons of choice. If Dylas' hard punches didn't put an attacking monster down, then either Leon's spear or Arthur's magic would do the job.

The trail went west, and the attacking creatures became increasingly difficult to take down. Still there was no sign of Reesa, and they all had their fair share of injuries by the time they made it through to the edge of Norad's territory.

"What is she doing all the way out here?" Dylas grumbled, rubbing at his bruised arm. "Didn't you tell her she shouldn't cross the border any more, Arthur?"

"There's no harm in it when she's just going to help take care of a few monsters," the prince said. "It actually helps them as well, since they don't have to spend the time, effort, and money of a patrol. It's... an unofficial benefit."

"Maybe, but it's also a pain in the neck!"

"Only because you're the close-range fighter," Leon snorted a little, slinging his corseca over his uninjured shoulder. "I keep telling you, you ought to invest in some other weapon..."

Dylas looked down at the Water Gloves he was wearing, then snorted irritably.

"Like hell."

Reesa had made him these gloves. Hell, Reesa had made pretty much all the gear each of them was wearing. Some of the items were a little more worn than others, as she'd used them first, but they were definitely treasures for each man.

As they entered the snow-covered lands of the Sechs territory, Leon's sharp eyes spotted a familiar figure. He let out a long sigh of relief as both foxes came bounding back to him returning to their clothing forms; it was cold in this land, after all. He started to lift his hand, opened his mouth to call a greeting when that slender figure simply collapsed in a boneless heap.

Leon startled as Arthur cried out in worry, but Dylas was faster than both of them and darted over to Reesa's unconscious form. Gingerly he inspected her, taking note of all the bruises, contusions, and other injuries she'd acquired. Hell, she was even less well-dressed for this territory than Leon was!

"Is she alive?" Leon asked.

"...yeah. Arthur, get over here and heal her up so we can take her to Jones and Nancy!" Dylas snapped.

The prince jumped, then hurried over to join them; he was good at business deals and handled the pressures of princely life quite well, but discovering his girlfriend had gone and gotten herself extremely injured was not something he had a great deal of experience with. Then again, none of them did. Dylas and Leon were just better at hiding some things.

"I'll get the arrows out," Leon volunteered.

Arthur nodded; while the arrows were good for keeping blood and other things in the wounds, healing them in wouldn't go over too well. Dylas helped after a minute, and fortunately, there weren't a great number of them.

"What the hell was she fighting?" he demanded, glancing up to look through the trees.

"Whatever it was, she was doing it alone. This has got to stop. If we hadn't come along, she might never have come back to us," the dragon-priest said grimly.

"And what should we do?" Arthur asked, looking up from his healing.

"Sit on her, obviously!" Leon retorted. "Look, Venti's gone, and it sucks. It hurts for all of us. But how do you think the town will react if Reesa goes too? Most of the people in town didn't know Venti. But everyone knows Reesa."

Dylas cringed a little at the thought; he hadn't lost as much time as some of the other Guardians, but it was enough to feel the sting of pain at even the thought of losing this normally cheery young woman.

"We can't control her life, Leon," Arthur said quietly. "And if we tried, what love we have earned may well turn to resentment."

"I'd rather have her hate me than have her die," Dylas interjected. "At least if she hates me, she's alive to do that."

"This isn't the time to dance around it Arthur," Leon retorted. "Look at her and tell me you don't think she's not actually trying to kill herself indirectly."

They all looked down at the too-slender young woman, and Dylas couldn't help but grimace. Even with the healing, she just looked so... fragile. It wasn't a word he normally associated with Reesa either; how could you call someone who'd lost their memories and built up a new life fragile? It took strength, and bravery to keep moving forward like that...

"You realize that if we take her to the clinic, the entire town will find out anyways?" Arthur asked cautiously, pushing his glasses slightly up his nose. "There's already been mention from several people that she's been seen in and out of there a lot..."

"Then maybe it's time some of them did find out," Dylas snorted a little. "I mean, we can't watch her all the time."

"Speak for yourself," Leon retorted. "I've got all the time in the world."

The two Guardians glared at each other, and Arthur coughed a little uncertainly.

"Well, that escalated quickly," he murmured. "Perhaps we should worry about getting her back first and focus on the rest of it as it comes."

Despite the mild tone, it wasn't really a question. Dylas and Leon backed down in unison, though both faces were set in equally stubborn masks. Dylas had no intention of losing out to either man when it came to Reesa's heart, even though she herself seemed in no rush to choose.

But still, this was no time to be fighting. Even though Arthur had healed her up, his ability was limited, and she did need to get back to Jones and Nancy. Now of course came a new question; specifically, who was going to carry Reesa?