Just as the sun dipped into the horizon making way for the moon, time flowed and soon brilliant rays peaked over the horizon...

Birds chirped, and the lively chatter of people rang — it was morning.

Seth’s eyes snapped open, his heart heavy...

’its time...’ His mind echoed his father’s request from the previous day.

He sighed, but in truth he couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous. After all, Maya had said two of his elder siblings were back.

In the end, Seth was still a human with feelings and emotions.

With all that said, Seth still admired his eldest brother and eldest sister.

He still had vague memories from when he was little. He could remember their silhouettes sneaking into his room to play with him.

All those times Nora brought back snacks and souvenirs, which she always secretly passed to him whenever she returned from long-distance travels.

Though over time they were caught, and Liora saw to it none of these happened again, those memories never faded.

But how many years had it been? Would they still hold the same feelings after a dozen years of alienation?

Not alienation caused by distance or absence — lord knows that would have been a lot better.

They had been in the same compound for years. Even after he moved out, they were all in the same city.

Seth blinked, and before he knew it he was staring at his reflection in a misted mirror, his frame dripping with water after having just taken his bath.

None of this was their fault. Both sides were forced into separation because of circumstances they couldn’t control.

And Seth understood this. He knew this. That’s why he never held any form of ill feeling toward any of the five of his half-siblings.

No, instead all of his resentment was toward Liora. But out of respect for his father, he still couldn’t bring himself to do anything to her.

Seth could have cleaned or dried himself in seconds — all he needed was to mobilize his essence — but he didn’t.

He reached for his towel, slowly drying himself, then took his toothbrush and began to brush.

Once he was done, he headed straight to his closet, something he hadn’t cared to open since he came.

He slid the doors open and smiled. He saw rows and rows of neatly hung clothes, and by the side a rack filled with shoes, everything clearly his size.

There was only one way this could be — his father must have been silently updating his closet every year since he left the residence to live with Maya, waiting for the day he’d be back.

Seth dressed himself up and left the room, heading straight for the dining hall.

His pace seemed slow, but somehow it wasn’t. Within seconds he was already before the grand doors of the dining.

His hands rested on the door knobs. He took a heavy breath, bracing himself.

Click!

He turned the knobs and the huge doors slowly swung open, revealing within.

The dining table was rectangular and large. His father was already at the head, with Liora sitting directly at the opposing end, her back faced toward the door.

On the left side Seth caught sight of the twins, and on the right he met the gazes of Lionel and Nora’s youthful eyes.

Plus him, their imperfect family had only one person left to complete this setting.

Karl Duskreaver, the middle child. Seth didn’t know where he was and hadn’t bothered to ask all this while either.

Seth took steady steps toward the table under everyone’s stares. His heart palpitated, his fingers trembled, but he quickly formed fists to hide it — he couldn’t show weakness today.

He walked to his father’s end and sat far from Liora, after an awkward exchange of greetings with everyone, intentionally skipping Liora.

As she never hid her ill feelings toward him, Seth didn’t bother keeping a facade either.

But surprisingly, he didn’t feel the usual intense glare of hatred today.

Curious, he glanced at Liora from the corner of his eyes.

And indeed she was there, but her expression was odd. It remained vaguely vacant, as though she was lost.

Seth raised a brow in surprise. To think there could be something that bothered this wench so much she forgot to give him his daily dose of hate.

He really wondered what it could be. In that same second, her crimson pupils moved, meeting his.

Seth almost looked away instinctively, but in the end he didn’t. And unexpectedly, she flashed him a subtle smile?

Seth’s skin crawled and his instincts blared red. The hell you mean she smiled at him?

Did the sun rise from the west today?

His hair stood on end, his mind spinning with countless possibilities.

’the food.’ he hissed. Yes, could she have poisoned him? Was she finally going to make a move to end him?

The eye contact lasted for three excruciatingly long seconds. Seth didn’t even know why he didn’t — no, couldn’t — look away.

But in the end she did, and the doors swung open once more, servants pushing carts lined with steaming fragrant delicacies.

"Was that out of character?" Liora silently whispered to herself.

Her eyes flashed, a deep black shadowy blur flickering in their depths.

The food was served, and everyone began to eat, an awkward silence pervading the room.

Except for the clink of knives and forks softly hitting plates, everything remained silent.

At least to Seth alone, who was wholly focused on scanning his food bite by bite for poison he half expected to sense anytime soon.

Meanwhile, on his siblings’ side, they were communicating — not with words but with their eyes.

Exchanging resolved glances, the twins nodded firmly at each other, then toward their elder brother and sister.

Lionel and Nora nodded back. Today was the day they broke the thin barrier separating this house.

Something they never dared do for years, but this time they had to — even if it meant defying their mother.

After coming so close to losing their youngest brother once, by their own family at that...

The siblings all underwent a rude awakening, getting sober. If Seth died, would they be glad?

Would they be proud as elder brothers and sister that the youngest sibling born to their family was gone?

No. No, they wouldn’t. No matter how much their mother tried, they couldn’t hate Seth.

They met his mother, they knew his mother. Lionel and Nora especially — they held Seth when he was born.

Lionel especially recalled his solemn promise he made in his heart to every sibling born after him: to guide and to protect.

He had done a good job with the rest, but with Seth?

This was his only failure in life. And almost losing Seth made them realize the world truly had changed.

Danger lurked everywhere. Death came easier, faster, and more gruesome than it ever did.

So they had to take the chance to repair their relationship now. After all, if not now, when?

Their current lifestyle was rife with danger. Any of them could die at any moment. Now was a chance so gracefully given to them, and they would take it.

"Ahem!" Lionel suddenly shot up to his feet, gathering attention unto himself as everyone looked his way.