That night, they ate in Cahaya Kecil's house. Because he took care of the villagers, his table was the only one long enough to fit them all. Lay had sat down across from Luciana. It seemed something had been weighing on his mind. 

Tao sat next to her. He had been oddly morose since setting off on this journey. Even this was rare. 

She turned to him and smiled. He didn't smile back, but seemed on the brink of saying something. 

Unfortunately, Lay beat him to it. "Luca." 

"Yes?" She shifted her attention to him. 

"Isn't what Cahaya Kecil said similar to what you said the Queen said?" He asked, his eyes on the table in front of him. 

She was afraid so. "Why?" 

He looked up at her, eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean why?" 

"Why do you say that?" She clarified. 

He shook his head. "Why would a Queen of a western kingdom say such similar things?"

"What did he say?" Tao asked, his previous quarry forgotten. He hadn't been in the room.

"Nothing." Luca said, exasperated. 

"It was not nothing." Lay barked. "He said you were protected by the Heavens, is that not the same thing your mother said?"

"The Queen." Luciana's tone was chastising. "Not my mother."

Lay nodded. Then, with a soft voice, he asked again. "But it was the same?" 

She looked at the table. An ant was crawling around in between them. She followed it with her eyes. "Yeah, it was very similar." She shook her head, then met his eyes. "So? You believe them?" 

"No." He answered.

"Of course not." Chen added, bored already. "That would be stupid."

"Do you really hear the spirits?" Luhan asked her. 

She looked at him, still not used to him talking to her. "I hadn't before." She admitted. "Only today." 

He looked away, showing no other sign of having heard her.

Lucy looked at Tao. "Was there something you wanted to say?"

He shook his head, not looking at her anymore either. 

Dinner carried on and came to an end in this same way. It was almost as if she didn't exist. As if she could just walk away. Walk away from the table, the room, the house. Walk out. 

Walk in.

Walk into the darkness.

The sanctuary of creatures like you.

"Princess!" Xiumin's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

She looked at him, and he was further away than he should have been.