Long after her tears subsided, Amber stayed exactly where she was.  Air flowed into her lungs because she continued to breathe; she saw the villagers moving in confused pairs and groups; could feel them talking to each other, but none of it could touch her.  Auntie Park pressed against her hip, the mortar a steady presence while the pestle brushed against the cloth rhythmically.  Youngwoon leaned against her calf, the handle heavy enough to press into her boots so she could feel the pressure.  And even Hyoyeon and Hyukjae huddled close in odd moments, but it didn’t help.

                None of it stopped her eyes from burning from the endless sea of tears.  It didn’t wash her grief away – the unseen weight crushing her too thin shoulders.  Her back keened where it continued to press against the door, aggravating her wounds further, but even that wasn’t enough to make her move.  Amber blinked red rimmed eyes and stared at the spot of dirt she was still looking at with her head resting against the doorframe.

                The fear and anger had long since bled away, leaving little else behind.  Numbness warred with the suffocating grief and her physical discomfit was merely a brief distraction in the larger scheme of things.  She simply couldn’t get the image out of her mind: her father’s room.  The blood everywhere.  Everything destroyed and ripped apart.  By that monster no doubt.  Her jaw clenched as anger tried to return, but it was a flickering candle inside her – tremulous and weak at best.  It was her anger that had brought her face to face with it.  With him.  But…

                “Why didn’t he kill me?” she croaked, the first words in long forgotten moments.  Her voice was raspy and nearly unrecognizable, but she felt Auntie Park pause as attention shifted to her.  “It would have been so easy,” she went on, blinking faster as the wheels of her mind struggled to turn.

                Those teeth.  Those claws.  And her with only a club.  All he would have had to do was reach out.  That was it.  It was a struggle to swallow but Amber frowned and finally turned her eyes to the club at her side.  She hardly remembered bringing it with her, but there it was, resting on the ground.  Claw marks were obvious and carved into the surface.  They hadn’t been there when she first picked it up.  Frowning, she reached with a trembling hand and curled her fingers around the handle.  Bringing it close to her face, she traced her fingertips down the tears in the wood.

                “That should have been me,” she whispered, not understanding.  Confused, Amber leaned her head back against the door and stared at the gray sky above, searching for an answer she wasn’t sure was there.  “Think,” she exhaled, her lips.

                Something else was bothering her though.  Not just the beast.  There was something about him, for sure.  Something about the eyes and the way he was acting; he didn’t feel like just a beast.  But it was more than that.  Thinking out loud, she began to speak, “My father’s room was destroyed.  Blood but no body.”  The image made her close her eyes again as she took a steadying breath.  She felt Auntie Park press harder against her hip but didn’t look over yet.  She was afraid she’d lose whatever thought she had if she did.  Tapping her forehead with the side of her index finger, she opened her eyes and nodded along.  “The beast’s hallway was all blood and claw marks too.  But none in my room.  Why was mine untouched?”

                No immediate answer came to her and it only fueled her helpless frustration.  With a stifled sigh, Amber levered herself to her feet, feeling ancient as she did so.  Her body was stiff, unresponsive to her commands, and the wounds on her back complained bitterly.  She did her nest to ignore them with a grimace, hissing through her teeth.  Stepping away from the doorway, she shook her free hand out and started rubbing her forehead with her fingertips, trying to make something connect.  He hadn’t followed her when she’d left.  Had he?

                Her heart jumped when she remembered to look over at the doorway into the castle, checking to make sure the beast wasn’t coming out.  It was closed and there was no sign of him.  Amber’s heart still took some convincing to slow down.  Dragging her gaze away once more, she started pacing in a small circle.  Movement helped her think.  So did biting on her thumbnail.  There was something about the rooms.  Something that wasn’t quite right.  Even without having seen Seungho and Changsun’s room and the casting hall, something didn’t sit right with her.

                The answer made her stop and close her eyes.  A trembling breath escaped her lungs and she clenched her fist tightly.  “I need to go back.”

                Scratching on the ground made her look down.  Auntie Park had spelled out a response.  No.

                Amber wanted to agree with her.  It was the immediate reaction she had too, but… “I need answers.”  Auntie Park hit the word again, more emphatic this time.  “It’s the only way we’re going to figure anything out,” she breathed, grabbing her necklaces this time.  The wire strawman dug into her palm and she bit her bottom lip.

                Once more, the mortar and pestle wrote on the ground.  No, no, no.

                “I don’t want to,” Amber admitted, kneeling down so she could be closer to the other woman.  “And if the beast had wanted me dead, I would be.”  She spoke as if convincing herself as much as Auntie Park.  Her words seemed to distress the magicked villager and she winced.  “I haven’t seen all the rooms yet.  And… there’s something I have to check on,” she murmured to herself, looking away thoughtfully.

                There was no immediate reaction this time, but she could tell her friend was going to say something.  Eventually.  And she did.  Amber watched intently as the pestle wrote on the ground again.  Rest furst.

                She blinked at the hastily scrawled words and bit her tongue on the knee-jerk response.  After a long moment, she her lips and took a calming breath.  “You’re right,” Amber admitted, swallowing hard.  “I just feel so muddled right now,” she sniffed, placing her palm to her forehead as tears threatened to encroach again.

                Rest.

                Amber laughed wetly at the repeated word.  It wasn’t funny but it reminded her of her mother.  Whenever she was sick or was thinking too much when she was little, her mother had always took her hand, patted it, and whispered the same word.  It was always followed by a gentle kiss on the top of her head.  ‘Things will be better in the morning.’

                “Alright,” she nodded again, gesturing for Auntie Park to lead on.  The Mayor’s house might have had a bed that was more comfortable, but when Auntie Park led the way back to her house, the choice was clear.  With a final glance back at the castle door, Amber moved around the corner and slipped into the building that belonged to the herbalist.

                Right next to the shop, it was quaint and homey, even with the magicked nature of the interior.  Things were bent out of shape and some of the tables and chairs would hardly work as resting places, but the single bed was whole enough.  The blanket had been fused with the mattress so she didn’t have that but it mattered little.  As soon as Amber let herself lie down, she was unconscious before she could even begin to worry.

                The day was neither darker nor lighter than it had been originally.  Gray skies above didn’t change and they rather mirrored Amber’s mood: bleak and uncertain.  But the rest had done her good.  She didn’t feel ‘better’ exactly, but she wasn’t as troubled as she had been.  Her eyes weren’t burning, the wounds on her back were tolerable, and the weight on her shoulders wasn’t quite as heavy as it had been.  And though Auntie Park and several other villagers were nervous about her returning inside – apparently the news had spread while she slept, none actively tried to stop her.

                Remnants of half-remembered dreams danced through the back of Amber’s mind as she regarded the castle again.  Endless hallways and rooms that were broken but not; the beast circling her, chasing her, but never closing in; she could even feel her mother and father at the edge of her awareness, just out of sight, hidden in shadows.  But those were merely dreams and this was reality.  Just looking at the dark structure sent a tremor of unease and fear racing down her spine.  But the answers she sought were inside.  She had seen blood in her father’s room, yes.  But no body.  Just like she had seen no body for the last three years.  Even if it had… eaten him, there would still be remains.  Somewhere.  And that said nothing at all about Seungho either.  She still needed to find his room and see how it fared.

                “I’m ready,” she lied with a brave but weak smile on her face.  As before, Youngwoon, Donghae, Jonghyun, and Hyukjae clustered close, ready to depart with her.  She had tried to convince them otherwise, since she wasn’t sure how the beast would react, but having them with her was at least a small comfort all the same.

                With their quiet approval, Amber shifted the club in her hand again and started walking.  They took similar care as before, but she didn’t try to sneak in this time.  There was little point when it could follow them by smell.  That didn’t stop her from pausing in fear every time she thought she heard something.  Nor did it keep the four villagers from clustering near her in the process, various edges and handles bumping or accidentally jabbing her.  She flinched when Jonghyun’s scythe-blade flickered in her periphery, flattening herself against the wall when they were still on the first floor.

                He jumped back immediately, as if embarrassed by the response.  Amber forced an apologetic smile and waved at him, whispering, “It’s alright.  My fault.”  She was jumpy and she knew it.  The feeling continued as they bypassed the hallway on the left and made for the stairs to the second floor.  The kitchen knife was gone when she walked up this time.  As were the bits of debris from the trapdoor.  Even stranger, the door had been repaired somehow.  “That’s odd,” she admitted, squinting into the gloomy atmosphere as she placed her hand on the underside and pushed.

                It opened without complaint, swinging up as she carefully peered inside.  The small crack of space let her see in three parts of the room so unless the beast was behind the door, the area was clear.  Tapping on her calf made her pause and she looked down to see Youngwoon hopping up the steps, apparently intent upon going through first.  Amber frowned at the idea but then realized he would be ideal if the beast was there.  If the wire mannequin had been any indication, then he would repair himself automatically whereas she would not.

                “Okay,” she agreed, helping the cleaver to slip sideways through the small opening.  He stood upright and wavered on his handle for a moment before hopping around out of sight.  For a brief time, nothing happened and then he re the other side, completely unharmed.  Bouncing in place, she could only guess that was his way of saying it was clear.  “I’m coming,” she nodded, pushing the door open the rest of the way.  Even so, she was careful, peeking over the top so she could check for herself.  All clear.

                Using a similar system, Amber and the magicked villagers made their way into the next hallway without trouble.  It wasn’t until they reached the final row of halls that they ran into trouble.  Amber pushed the door open and Youngwoon slipped through first, being uniquely suited to getting into narrow spaces easiest.  But he paused only halfway to the other side and Amber froze when she heard the telltale growl.  “Youngwoon,” she gasped, opening the door enough to reach in and grab the cleaver, yanking him to safety.  At the sound of her voice, the beast quieted immediately.

                Motioning for the others to move back, she used Youngwoon as a quick mirror when she cracked the door open again to check for herself.  Nothing to the right, but when she switched to the left, she inhaled sharply at seeing the beast’s face moving closer, golden eyes obvious in the reflection.  Gasping, she yanked them back in and slammed the door shut.  “He’s here,” she hissed, pointing in the direction she’d seen him.  Even as she spoke, they all listened as the sound of claws on stone walked past, accompanied by long, heavy breaths.

                Amber trembled while she clung to the handle, fearing he would try to come through at any moment.  But he didn’t and all fell silent save for the thundering of her heart in her .  Pushing the door open again and using Youngwoon once more, she checked to confirm he had moved on.  To where, Amber didn’t know, but the way was clear and they weren’t likely to get much of a better chance.  For whatever reason, it had left her alone and she would work with that.  So long as she didn’t have to face him.

                “Let’s go,” she urged, waving for them to follow as she stepped into the hallway and hurried towards the study hall room.  As soon as she reached the door, her eyes widened upon seeing the beast rounding the corner just beyond her.  Without taking her eyes off him, she pushed the door open and waved for the tools to go first.  The beast wasn’t looking at them anyway.  She didn’t miss the way his nose wrinkled as he sniffed the air, lips peeling back to reveal fangs briefly before the muscles in his face relaxed.  His head turned, as if he was unsure; large eyes remained trained on her.

                And even when Amber stepped back to get out of sight, she could hear him following.  Walking backwards with Youngwoon still clutched in one hand and the club in the other, she inhaled slightly as the beast came into the long hallway as well, padding after her with intense focus.  “Stay back,” she hissed with a voice that trembled.  His ears flicked towards her, listening to the sound.  Amazingly, he stopped shifting from foot to foot uneasily.  Though fear clouded her sight, she noticed his indecisiveness, his confusion.

                She kept going backwards and eventually he started following again, fur standing on end and tail lashing behind him.  Amber accidentally bumped into one of the Lees when she reached the door.  She knocked him against the wall, the sound loud and startling.  The beast flinched and growled at her, baring his fangs with ears laid flat.  Amber yelped and scrambled for the door handle blindly, reaching with a filled hand until she connected and pushed, falling into the study room awkwardly.  She kicked the door closed in her fear and both Jonghyun and Donghae leaned into it, bracing the barrier with their persons.

                Fear was a cloudy miasma around the five as they huddled near the door and listened when the beast drew near.  Claws scraped on stone and breath whistled under the barrier, brushing them with warm air.  He bumped into the barrier with a solid thud but other than growling softly, the beast didn’t try to rip it down.  No.  Amber frowned in confusion as he simply sniffed excessively at the entrance.  “What’s he smelling for?” she whispered, setting Youngwoon down so she could finally get to her feet, staring at the wood as if she could see through to the other side.

                After a tense eternity, they heard him finally leaving.  Receding steps signaled his retreat, leaving the five in relative silence.  Amber exhaled in relief, the outburst of air loud in the confines of the room.  “Maybe… maybe you two should stay there,” she motioned at Donghae and Jonghyun who appeared to be very good door stops.  When neither moved, she assumed they were in agreement.  “Okay,” she took a breath, cupping her forehead with her palm.  “Good job, guys.  We made it,” she forced a laugh, finally turning around so she could get a better look at the room.  “Now let’s see what wasn’t making sense to me,” she murmured, chewing on her bottom lip as she set the club down so she could use both hands.

                Staring around the room, she noticed that it was scattered and messy, just like her father’s had been.  But there was no blood and something else was different.  The shelves and tables had been pulled down or flipped over; some were broken and splintered; and there were books everywhere.  Amber hummed to herself and, with another nervous glance at the door, began to pick through the mess to see if anything was salvageable.

                As gently as she could, she started to right the books that were open and pile them all into neater stacks nearby.  Familiar binds jumped out at her: Magical Reagents, Endless Ingredients, The Complete Compendium of Mage Components, among many, many others.  The one strange thing she began to notice very quickly was, despite the fact they were scattered and roughly handled, very few books were actually destroyed.

                “That’s odd,” she frowned, cradling the latest book in her hands as she ran gentle fingertips over the bent cover.  All the pages were still present, however wrinkled they might have been otherwise.  When she felt her friends’ curiosity, she turned to explain, “In my father’s room, everything was completely destroyed.”  Her eyes flickered to them and she elaborated, “The books were shredded.  Furniture was shattered and in pieces.  Nothing was… salvageable,” she finished, more confused than ever.

                Setting the book down, Amber started to pace again, chewing on her thumbnail.  Her father’s room was destroyed, this one was roughed up, and hers was untouched, much like the garden.  She hadn’t seen the boys’ room or the casting room but still… none of that made sense.  Why destroy one and not the other?  If there had been a struggle in her father’s room, as loathe as she was to think it, she could understand the state.  But this one…  What reason would he have to make such a mess?  The pattern indicated some kind of selective behavior.

                “Wait,” she gasped, yanking her thumbnail free.  “Changsun said something,” she started snapping her fingers, trying to recall a memory of some kind.  “They were casting…  What were they working on?”  Amber pressed her hand over and her eyes got wide in her face.  “Portals.  Scrying.  And… tranation!”  She whirled towards the villagers.  “The spell that changed you!”  Their confusion was palpable.  “Well, you guys transformed!” she rambled off quickly, pointing at them in her excitement.  “What if- What if they didn’t summon something?  What if- What if they were changed too?” she spoke quickly, struggling to keep up with her whirling thoughts.

                “But that still doesn’t make sense,” she groaned, frowning at the way things weren’t adding up like she needed them to.  “Because there’s only one beast.  So where’s the other?  In one of the other rooms?” she wondered with a perplexed expression.  “It’s possible,” she gestured with a shrug, feeling her heart race at the mere idea.  “But what about the blood?  Is it the beast’s or someone else’s?”  She hadn’t seen old scars on the creature outside, other than the wound she’d given him most recently, but she hadn’t really been looking either.  “Wait,” she frowned.  “If that thing is my father or Seungho, then why doesn’t he recognize me?”  She groaned when one possibility occurred to her.  “It has been three years.  And I did change a fair bit,” she conceded, pulling at the short strands of her hair.  “Is that why he keeps sniffing so much?  Is that why he didn’t kill me?”

                “Ugh!  There are too many questions!” she flailed before her shoulders slumped and she exhaled.  Threading her fingers through her hair, she her lips again and looked at nothing as her eyes darted about, mirroring the jumping of her thoughts.  “Okay.  So!” she announced, standing upright with her finger jutting into the air.  “There are three more rooms I need to find: my house since the garden is here; Seungho and Changsun’s old room; and the casting hall.  I think I’ll have a few more answers when I get there,” she suggested, focusing on the four villagers with her.

                “So long as we can play nice with the beast that is,” she added, chewing on the inside of her lip.  That was the question indeed.

(a/n: More questions!  I know.  haha  I'm hoping to get to some answers in the next update.  Some anyway.  ;)  Thank you for sticking with me and I hope you look forward to the next chapter!  Amber's slowly but surely getting a grip on things and figuring stuff out.  ^_^)