Isaac awoke the next morning very sore. Every part of his body ached and his heart ached along with it. The ache was pleasant though, in a way. It was a cathartic release. The pain acknowledged the loss that he had sustained. The loss of his first two friends. It felt like the second and third chapters of his story were missing. If his life had been one hundred chapters, then the second, third, fiftieth, eightieth and eighty-first chapters had been torn out, the pages drifting down towards a burning fire where they glowed blindingly bright one last time before they vanished into nothing but ash and memories.

He felt Lenna take his hand and squeeze it weakly. "How did you sleep?" Lenna asked him.

"Like the d-" He stopped himself as a pang of loss strummed across his heartstrings. "Like the dead." He whispered. "You?"

"Same as you." Lenna replied.

Isaac sighed and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He would have stayed there for only the gods knew how long if he hadn't told himself that he had to get Lenna the medicine. If he had let himself think for longer than the barest of moments then he would have summoned Margaret or Shamesh to do it. Instead, he used the thought to push him to start moving. It was much easier to keep moving than it was to start from a cold stop.

"Thank you." Lenna said as he handed her the medicine and a cup of water. Isaac just nodded in acknowledgement of her thanks.

After Lenna had taken hers, she gave Isaac his and he gulped it down without flinching. It was gross and he had no desire to find out what was in it. It worked, and it was given to them by Walter's adopted mother, so that was good enough for him. The two sat in silence for a long moment, with Lenna propped up against the headboard and Isaac seated on the bed next to her. "I want to get a hold of all of Aria's research documents concerning the vampire civilization. If they are actually out there, I want to find them." Isaac told his mate after their long moment of companionable silence. "It won't be an obsession, and I won't let it bog down the rest of the important things that we have to do, but I would like to further it if we can, and pass it on to someone else if we can't. If her research, if her quest leads to something, then she would have left her own little mark on history with her loyal protector right beside her."

Lenna nodded. "Okay." She replied with a smile. "We can do that. Ask Edward where her belongings are."

Isaac nodded a few times, the first one was to her in acknowledgement of her recommendation and acceptance of him adding something else to their list of things to do, but the rest more to himself as if they would somehow help him build up the courage to sift through Aria's things.

"Go." Lenna nudged him. "Find Shamesh and have him contact Edward. Then send Margaret up so she can help me get ready. We are going to the orchestral hall after breakfast, yes?"

"Alright, okay, yes." Isaac replied and rose to his feet. "One thing at a time." He said more to himself than to Lenna.

Isaac's emotions were all over the place along the scales of sadness and anger and everything in between. He was unstable, but at the same time, the sorrow that weighed heavily in his chest kept him from flying too far in any direction. He did as was planned but ran into Margaret first. He sent Margaret up to Lenna to help her get ready and Margaret sent him in the direction of Shamesh. Shamesh was on the roof, moving through each sword form that was involved in the sword dance with Isaac's blunt bladed training sword. When he felt Isaac reach the top of the stairs, he stopped.

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"No." Isaac told him. "Keep going."

"I have something for you." Shamesh replied but continued where he had left off. His movements were perfect but not smooth in the slightest. The transitions were killing him but every step was correct.

"What is it?" Isaac wondered.

"A letter from the Guild Receptionists." Shamesh explained as he continued moving from position and stance into each strike and parry.

"I need you to contact Edward and make a request for you, me, and Lenna to be the ones to go through Aria's belongings." Isaac gave Shamesh his next task. "Where is their reply?"

"In your study, on your desk." Shamesh replied.

Isaac instantly pictured his study in his mind and shadows connected from his shadow to just in front of his desk. Isaac vanished and reappeared in his study. He grabbed the letter and then returned to where he had come from. The shadow-step hadn't been his farthest one but it had been far quicker than it would have been a few months prior. His mental imaging and the muscle memory of using his power had continued to grow at a steady pace even if his levels had not been.

Isaac opened the letter and quickly skimmed the contents. "Cain did manage to hunt down the necromancer. After some less than kind questioning, it was revealed that the necromancer was in service to a lich. The lich is still at large and its current whereabouts are unknown." Isaac informed Shamesh. "We are on the list of people to contact if or when it is found. I wonder how this one will stack up to Shamsha?"

"I wonder as well." Shamesh replied.

"No corpse was found matching the description of the Thronsen family's daughter. They have confirmed that she had been switched with a fake but that fake is also nowhere to be found." Isaac continued with a frown. "Another enemy in the wind." He grumbled. "I had sort of assumed that no one had escaped Lady Jikan."

"I never witnessed her first hand." Shamesh reminded Isaac. "If I had, then maybe I could recognize her soul."

"Events just didn't line up correctly for that." Isaac frowned. "Ooh!" He brightened. "The Heidenburg Martial Tournament is being held on the first day of summer, just after all of the spring seeds have been sown. We might be able to get there in time."

Shamesh finished the sword dance at that point and walked over to join Isaac at the top of the stairs. "Is there anything else that is scheduled that would interfere with a trip around that time?" Shamesh wondered. Isaac kept him decently up to date with the schedule but he spent enough time in Isaac's shadow that he often missed things here and there.

Isaac shook his head in the negative. "There is nothing scheduled." He confirmed. "But that doesn't mean that something won't happen. Sera's birthday is that month, if I remember correctly."

"It is." Shamesh confirmed.

"Nothing I can get her this year will compete with last year." Isaac commented. "Try to work on smoothening your transitions from stance to stance. It is a dance but it also is a combat form." Isaac changed topics. "You can keep the sword and even use mine in combat if you want. I am going to head down for breakfast. Once we are done, it will be time to go to the orchestra hall."

Shamesh gave Isaac an acknowledging and thankful bow. "Thank you. I understand. I shall be ready and waiting for when you are ready to depart, my Lord."

Isaac gave Shamesh a nod and then took a step and appeared in front of his bedroom door. He opened it just as Lenna was approaching it from the inside. Margaret had been about to reach for it when Isaac pushed it open. His gaze instantly found Lenna who was wearing one of her gorgeous silver dresses that matched her hair and eyes perfectly. She was also wearing the necklace that Isaac had gotten her so many months ago. It felt like such a long time ago yet it hadn't even been a year. Maybe his life was too full for his own good.

Isaac gave his wife a warm smile, who gave him one in return. "You are more stunning every time I see you." He told her.

"Your lies will not fool me, Isaac Wexler." Lenna teased him.

"Fine. Fine." Isaac waved her off. "Then, you are more beautiful in person than my memories could ever preserve."

Lenna's smile widened a bit. "I will take that." She told him. "And you, my heart, look the same every day."

Isaac was going to try and think of a retort but just ended up chuckling. She was right, he did look the same every day. The bags that probably should have been under his eyes were nowhere to be seen and his muscles didn't look slightly swollen like he knew they should be, based on the constant pain his overused muscles inflicted him with.

Breakfast was less melancholic than dinner had been the night before but it still lacked the color that each meal had had before the duo had left. It was like a weight had settled into the air in the manor and the silence had been made more stark and noticeable than it had been in the past. It was a delicious meal, as always, but it would take some time before Isaac was ready to truly enjoy things. Lenna was just trying to be there for Isaac as much as she could but she really had no idea what to do or say. Instead, she just tried to act as normal as possible while maybe going a bit easier on him so he would be more open to talking about whatever was going on inside of his head. Soon enough, the meal was over and it was time to leave. Hopefully some music would help sooth the souls of the Fate Bound Duo.

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