Seqr sighed. She placed back the medicine kit and went to her own bedroom. She walked around her room, touching her frames and things. She was going to miss this. I wonder if my parents are going to be happy? Seqr thought, smiling sadly as she looked at a photo of a five-year-old Seqr and her parents, grinning joyfully at the camera. A tear escaped her eye as she recalled those memories. Ah . . . that's the best memory I have, she thought. That's it, I'm going.

She went through her closet and packed some clothes. She tiptoed towards the kitchen and grabbed an apple and a loaf of bread. She went back to her room and stuffed those in her bag. She looked around to see if she needed anything. Ah! Her secret dagger. She went under her bed and tugged the knife from under the mattress. That was her secret place for her dagger. Her parents don't even know she had one. She put it in her bag and crossed her arms. Done, she thought. She suddenly yawned, realizing how much time had passed. She walked her way over to her bed and laid down, closing her eyes and dozing off to sleep.

The next morning, Kahe was too scared to go outside. What if Seqr said no? Will the mission fail? Ugh. I'm so scared. Please please say yes! Kahe thought, biting her lip so hard. The door burst open, startling Kahe from her thoughts. Seqr was standing by the door with a bag slung on her shoulder, beaming. Weird. Wasn't she in a bad mood yesterday? Kahe thought, confusion written all over her face. Seqr noticed it and grinned wider.

“Come on, muscled girl. We gotta get moving!” Seqr demanded, clapping her hands. “Oh yeah, I still don't know your name. What is it?” she added.

Kahe just stared blankly. She couldn't believe it. She . . . had actually succeeded in getting the first reincarnation to accompany her?

“Oh my gosh!” Kahe shouted, jumping up from the bed, catching Seqr off-guard. Kahe ran towards Seqr and squeezed the life out of her. Seqr's eyes bulged and struggled to get out of Kahe's death grip. She was loosing her breath and smacked Kahe's back to let go of her.

“I . . . can't breathe!” She managed to say. Kahe realized she almost killed her new recruit and let go of her, rubbing her hands on her thigh nervously.

Seqr glared slightly at Kahe and massaged her arms. It was red from all the hugging. Seqr decided to break the silence by holding out her hand.

“Um, sorry about that. I was just excited,” Kahe murmured, blushing.

“Uh-huh. Very excited,” Seqr emphasized, nodding at Kahe. Kahe blushed again and lightly smacked Seqr's arm.

“It's because I thought I wouldn't succeed in this mission. There's a lot of pressure on me right now,” Kahe explained.

“Well, you can succeed. You got me to go with you,” Seqr said, smiling. Kahe grinned back but frowned.

“Why did you accept my offer though?” Kahe asked, curiosity in her eyes. Seqr swallowed. Should I tell her or not? She thought.

“It's okay if you don't want to tell me,” Kahe said, seeing the troubled expression on her face. I guess it's personal, Kahe thought.

“No! Um, it's not that but . . .,” she trailed off, not knowing what to say. Kahe patted her back and said, “It's fine. You don't have to tell me now.”

“It's my parents,” Seqr uttered out. Kahe remained silent. Seqr continued. “They're more demanding than before. I didn't know what to do so I—“

“—started stealing. Right?” Kahe interrupted. Seqr was on the verge of tears. “Y-yes. I thought if I stole, they would stop and turn back into my normal parents. But . . .”

“But what?” Kahe urged. Seqr took a deep breath.

“But they just became worse. They put more pressure on me and s-sometimes, they even threatened me.” Seqr stopped and burst into silent tears. Kahe hugged her and tried to comfort her. Threatened her? I can't believe this, she thought. Seqr continued to cry for five minutes with Kahe whispering relaxing words to her.

“It's fine. You'll make a new family with me and the others,” Kahe spoke softly. Seqr looked up with a confused look and red eyes.

“Others? There's more?” she asked.

Kahe nodded. “Actually, there's twelve.”

“Twelve?” she gasped, covering .

“Yeah,” Kahe chuckled. “So we better hurry up and find the rest of our family.”

“Y-yeah,” Seqr stammered. They both smiled at each other and left the room, heading for the door. They almost reached it when someone cleared their throat. They looked back and saw Seqr's mother.

“Mom—.”

“I'm sorry,” her mother whispered. Seqr's eyes widened.

“What?” cried Seqr, giving her a glare.

“For everything. I wasn't being a good mother. I was too selfish and only cared about my reputation,” her mother explained, crying. Seqr just looked at her with disbelief and turned to leave.

“Wait! Just take this!” Seqr's mother rushed forward and inserted something in Seqr's closed palm. She opened it and saw a bracelet with one charm. It was a pinwheel. Kahe gasped. How did she . . .

“How did you get that?” Kahe demanded. The woman looked at her with a bewildered expression.

“Someone g-gave it to me,” she answered.

“Let's just go, muscled girl,” Seqr snapped, opening the door and leaving the house. Kahe looked at the woman with a sympathetic and apologetic gaze and left the house.

“Take care of my daughter,” Seqr's mother pleaded. Kahe nodded and kept walking. The woman smiled. You'll be better off with her, Seqr. Just remember I love you. She caught up with Seqr who was breathing in and out. Kahe snickered at her expression and whistled a tune. Seqr's head shot up as she heard a song. She looked beside her and saw Kahe's whistling. Kahe turned her head and smiled softly at her. Seqr smiled back, but it was forced.

“Your mom loves you, surprisingly,” Kahe said, breaking the silence.

“No, she doesn't,” Seqr gritted her teeth.

“Oh? Then why did she say, 'Take care of my daughter'?” Kahe replied, looking sideways at Seqr. Seqr pursed her lips. As if, she thought. There's no way that I would believe that.

“Maybe they had a reason,” Kahe said, interrupting her thoughts. Seqr stared at her for a while and looked away.

“Let's not talk about this, muscled girl,” Seqr sighed. Kahe glanced at her and gave up.

“By the way, I still haven't got your name,” Seqr spoke. “What is your name?”

“Kahe, nice to meet you,” Kahe replied, holding out her hand for Seqr to shake. She took her hand and shook it vigorously.

“Nice to meet you, too. My name is Seqr,” she answered back, smiling.

“Yeah, I already knew your name when you were being chased,” Kahe joked, laughing. Seqr joined the laughter and the awkwardness disappeared. They continued walking until Kahe remembered something.

“Ah! I need to give you something,” Kahe exclaimed, rummaging through her backpack. She emerged with the bag of symbols and took out the space necklace. She gave it to Seqr, who just looked at it with confusion and curiosity.

“What is this?” asked Seqr, holding the necklace to eye level. She peered at it from different angles and looked at me for an explanation.

“That,” Kahe started, pointing at the necklace, “is your symbol. You can control space. Always wear it. You're one of the reincarnations.”