It’s complicated

"Nothing yet" Anberine called out finally to his relief before realising what happened, mentally slapping himself to the blunder he quickly focused on searching for any clues.

As Skye walked he paused at a table near the upper left of the room from the door.

Curiosity filled him as he found himself unable to look away from it, unable to figure out why it was bothering him so much.

Only the moment he took a step closer towards it.

"GHAAA!" Skye startled by what he saw fell backwards and cringed as he landed on his tailbone, rubbing it weakly thanks to the cold stone floor he looked back at the table to see nothing.

"That's weird, I was sure that we were alone. So... how?" Skye yelped again as he felt a hand on his right shoulder, looking up quickly he saw Anberine's worried look.

"Don't do that!" Skye yelled while his face went red from the embarrassing display, eyeing him oddly she rolled her eyes at his response.

"You screamed" Anberine said bluntly before he got up. Brushing the dirt off his clothes Skye felt more mortified than ever for letting himself get caught off guard.

"Yeah well-I thought I saw something" Skye said while approaching the table, placing a hand on the smooth surface he scanned it for any clues.

"There had to be a reason as to why that happened" Skye's brow furrowed from the questions that formed in his head.

"What did you find?" Anberine said while eyeing him and then the table in confusion.

"I thought I saw two people at the table" Skye said before slumping after he saw nothing.

"But we're the only two people, maybe it was your imagination" Anberine said as Skye tried to figure out what he saw.

"No... I was sure I saw two people. One was wearing blue robes" Skye replied with a shake of his head. Confusion filled him as to who that person could have been.

"Who was the other person?" Anberine asked as she sat down on one of the chairs, resting one hand on her cheek she watched him try to remember.

"It was only a glimpse but-" Skye froze as he looked at Anberine who blinked at his stunned expression.

"Skye?" Anberine tilted her head slightly only it didn't snap him out of his daze.

Instead all Skye saw was no longer Anberine but a young man with short brown hair, his expression to Skye's surprise looked as if he was exhausted as he spoke. However what should have been a young male turned out to be someone who looked as if he aged ten if not twenty years, but to Skye's confusion he saw the lips move but no noise left the male's lips.

His eyes exhausted but still contained a fire that refused to be extinguished even if it was reduced to a tiny flicker.

'Merlin...'

"Skye!" Anberine spoke sharply as she placed her hand on Skye's shoulder causing him to jump in fright before realising what happened.

"What happened?!" Skye cried before placing a hand on his rapidly beating heart.

"You tell me, you weren't listening to me and you zoned out" Anberine replied as she folded her arms.

"I...um" Skye bit his inner cheek in frustration.

"That man, where have I seen him before?" Skye mentally berated his head before his mouth opened.

"Merlin" Skye's words confused Anberine who gave a perplexed expression.

"Huh? Merlin? What does he have anything to do with anything?" Anberine asked before Skye shook his head.

"There-I saw a man but I couldn't hear him. But I'm trying to figure out what he was saying" Anberine nodded while her arms remain folded.

"What did he say?" Anberine asked as Skye placed a hand to his head.

"Something about Merlin but I couldn't make out what he was trying to say" Skye said earning him a soft sigh from Anberine.

"Whatever he said, it could have been a clue. For now let's just leave since we're not going to get any information anytime soon" Anberine said while grabbing her bag.

Grimacing at the lack of progress Skye grabbed his bag and looked at Anberine.

'(Merlin is the key)' a voice entered Skye's head stunning him to the spot.

"Skye?" Anberine snapped Skye out of his musing.

"Merlin's the key?" Skye muttered softly confusing the pair as they mused on what he meant.

"Are you okay?" Anberine asked while Skye shook his head.

"Let's just go" Skye tightened his grip on his bag strap and followed Anberine out once she locked the door behind them.

After returning the key the pair walked back with mixed emotions not knowing what to say given how fruitless their search went.

~

"So you found nothing?" Mordred asked as Merlia was tailoring clothes for Helga, who in turn was trying very hard to stay still.

"I did see something briefly" Skye admitted as he sat down and watched Merlia and Helga interacting with the other.

"What did you see?" Mordred asked looking curious as to what Skye had seen, biting his cheek he looked at Anberine and then Mordred.

"I saw two people, one of them was a brown haired man while the other was wearing blue robes" Skye replied as he pushed some hair from his face. Blinking Mordred frowned.

"Was that it?" Mordred asked not feeling happy, to his surprise Skye shook his head.

"I saw the brown-haired man's lips move but I couldn't hear anything. However I did pick up one word" Skye heard Helga giggling as Merlia was fixing a sleeve of Helga's green dress.

"And that was?" Mordred leaned back on his chair silently praying that it was useful.

"Merlin"

Snap

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Merlia cried as she sliced the sleeve the moment she heard the name.

However Helga after she screamed in alarm quickly stopped thanks to hearing the name.

Mordred shot Merlia a look as she became more paler than usual.

Anberine bit her lower lip as she looked at Mordred and Merlia feeling more worry enter her system.

"I-I'm okay" Merlia said in a breathless tone as she got up and patted her chest weakly, spotting Mordred's concerned look she waved it off by giving him a weak brittle smile in return.

"What's wrong?" Skye asked as the siblings glanced at the other with mixed emotions, however there was one emotion that stood out- dread.

"The name's a taboo subject" Anberine explained hastily as she got up to help Merlia.

Helga meanwhile felt her heart go out to the distressed girl who tried to get them to brush it off.

Skye as he heard this frowned.

"Whatever it is, it's a clue that can help us" Skye interrupted the trio, Mordred nearly scowled at Skye for being insensitive before getting up and went to hug Merlia who was trying to push away their worry.

"Can't you just shut up for one minute and be sensitive?" Helga snapped as she glared at him weakly.

At the same time she could hear Merlia saying that she was 'fine' repeatedly to Mordred who was showing more worry than ever.

"Can someone just explain to me what is going on?" Skye asked as he got up, his arms folded showing he was unhappy with what he was seeing.

"It's complicated" Anberine said before rubbing Merlia's arm softly.

"How? Right now you all know but I'm left out the loop on why everyone's being like this" Skye commented bluntly.

"Is there something I should know?" Merlia sighed as she nodded at a reluctant Mordred.

"In order to know, it's best to start from the beginning" Mordred said grudgingly before guiding his sister to the table so she could sit down. Blinking Skye sat down with the mini group.

"Okay" Skye nodded now feeling anxious about what they were going to say.