It had been a week since they brought Corrine and Jules home. Life had been busy and therapy had started, “Jules, please make sure to take your medicine okay?” Simone brought in some of the herbal remedy treatment for Jules and gave him some juice. “Corrine… Do you need me to brush your hair?”

“I got it,” the little girl was in front of her vanity trying to brush her hair. The two were sharing a room for now since that’s what made them comfortable.

“Okay,” Simone watched Jules took his medicine. “Lady Angela said she would be able to see you today… Isn’t that exciting? You won’t be in pain anymore.”

“I’m… hesitant,” Jules said as Simone helped change his clothes.

“It’s alright to be scared. You met Mia right? She had surgery on her feet… She could barely walk and look how she runs around now. It was Lady Angela who did that.” Simone kissed his head and he recoiled at first but Simone gave a smile. “I’m sorry Jules. I didn’t mean to cross your boundary.”

“…I’m not used to it yet.”

“Come on now, breakfast. Then –”

Mia came in and she throwing hand signs. “CALM DOWN,” Simone tried to calm her down before she scared the kids. More hand signs later, “What’s wrong with Glyn?! LEWIS WE NEED TO GO TO ELYSIA NOW,” Simone yelled and she picked up Corrine once she was done and pulled Jules. There was a worried look on her face but Mia couldn’t properly tell her what was wrong.

Simone put the kids down as soon as they got near the garden and she was in a full-blown spring with Lewis as they got near the patch. There was baby’s cry as Angela brought the new baby up with a blanket. He had black hair and gray eyes. When Angela had asked Lewis what his preference was… It had been Simone. “Congratulations.”

Simone fell to her knees and looked at the little boy in the goddess’s arms, “He’s… He’s…”

“He’s here.” With Simone seemingly out of breath, Angela approached Lewis and offered him the baby boy. “The children with you… They are Jules and Corrine?”

“Ah,” Simone could barely get it out as she waved the kids to come closer to see Glyn.

This was the day that they were supposed to meet Glyn, and Lewis found himself staring in the mirror. It was rare for him to be nervous, but here he was, idly brushing the same spot, over and over with his comb. Everything was going to be okay, and he knew that. So why was he so nervous?

It’s probably mostly you, Simone, he thought. She must have been pulling at every ounce of calm that he normally exuded. Lucas came in behind Lewis, checking his own hair. The two of them hadn’t done a full dress down, but each of them sported a solid colour button down, Lewis with a sea green, and Lucas with a deep red.

Lucas was starting to get tall, and was a hair taller than Lewis was. It was noticeable today, for some reason. As the two left the shared hall bathroom, Rex waltzed in behind them, slamming the door.

The ex assassin came up to Jules’ and Corrine’s new room, and knocked, peaking in. “Everything going okay?” he asked. Simone was busy helping the two new kids get ready. Lewis was about to ask if she wanted help, when Mia came dashing into the room, throwing up hand signs like she was trying to cast a complex spell. It took a moment for her to read them, and when she did, Simone bolted up, and demanded they go to Elysia.

All of them followed, minus Rex who was still in the hall bathroom, and soon they all found themselves in Elysia, in Angela’s courtyard. The goddess was there, holding a bundle, and with a smile she passed it along to Lewis, who held the boy tenderly. Simone had fallen to her knees in shock.

Lewis cradled the baby boy, and smiled. “Glyn, is it?” he said to the baby. “Welcome to the world, little one…” He smiled, and walked over to Simone, plopping down next to her. Lucas and Ezili walked up behind them, looking down at the new bundle of joy. Each of them had one of the twins. Janus and Lila both were a little noisy, trying to figure out what all of the commotion was about. Alshaya and Everett came up on either side of Lewis and Simone, staring at the Glyn with wide eyes.

“This is your little brother,” Lewis said with a smile.

Probably. The fear of being a parent should have gone away with how veteran they were but still she feared messing up.

“Everything is fine,” Simone pointed at Corrine who was showing Lewis that she could brush her own hair.

Once they had made their way into Elysia and Simone was in shock it only took a few moments for Everett to plop in his mama’s lap so he could look at Glyn. “He’s so… perfect.” Simone had tears and looked up at Lewis. “He looks like me…”

“Lewis’s preference for how he looked. Like you.” Angela came over and greeted Jules and Corrine. “I see what Xeik was talking about with your arm… Does it hurt?”

“Yeah… It aches a lot,” Jules didn’t feel compelled to hide Corrine behind him when it came to Angela as she felt safe.

“Here,” Angela took his arm and safely used magic on it. “There you go all better. Does it feel good?”

“I… can’t remember the last time I didn’t have pain.”

“Come here you two,” Simone was sitting by Lewis and moved Everett enough holding out her arms to them. Jules and Corrine came over and got in her lap too as they all looked at Glyn. “This is your little brother.” All of the kids were excited as they all shared in the moment.

Glyn’s gray-blue little eyes looked up at them as he let out a huge yawn. “Oh goodness,” Simone chuckled a bit. “Let’s get him home… Thank you, Angela.”

“Oh, it’s the least I can do for you both.” She waved them off. Once they were on their way back to the house she took Glyn into her arms and kissed him with all the love in the world. “The littlest Terrowin.” She whispered to Glyn. “You are so handsome.” The twins were excited to see Glyn as they were allowed near him on the couch.

Even Corrine and Jules were curious about him and they liked seeing how loving Simone was with children who weren’t her own.

“You are little number ten. You don’t know it but you are. You came before Jules and Corrine but they were here first. They are going to love you too okay? I know you never met them,” Simone let Glyn hold one of her fingers as she spoke to him.

Ezili found Rex who was getting ready, “We brought Glyn home!”

With Simone finally settled with Glyn back at home, Lewis found himself playing with Alshaya and Everett. Alshaya was running around, laughing about how she was going to marry all of the boys in her class once they got older and stopped having cooties, and Everett was yell singing about Rex and Natayl kissing in a tree. Soon though, he ran out of lyrics, and switched to Rex and Alice.

“Hey Papa!” Alshaya said as she ran into his leg and laughed. “Did you know that Rex has a crush on Dala! Dala is too cool for him though!” Everett nodded in agreement, switching the song again to Rex and Veronica kissing in a tree. “Rex is a ho!”

Lewis shook his head, “Alshaya, you can’t say that. Where did you hear that?” He silently hoped that Simone was too distracted by Glyn to notice what their daughter had said.

“Class Pearl said so. Pearl is nice now, ever since I gave her a good one!” She started to run around Lewis again. “Her boyfriend likes me. I see him looking at me! I’m gonna marry him!”

The ex-assassin groaned, hoping that Simone was enjoying her time with their new son.

Maybe we should have kept them home and got that private tutor… This Pearl is the reason why. Simone was stunned by the words her precious daughter used.

Shaya is gonna try to marry half the town.

Shaya is gonna be the death of you.

She cradled Glyn in her arms as she carried him upstairs to his nursery. It was nature-themed like how he was born. She sat down in her rocking chair and started to rock the tiny baby. “I love you so much, Glyn…”

She closed her eyes and she just started to talk not realizing that she hadn’t closed the resonance. “When I was little not much older than Shaya your little sister. My daddy took me into the throne room and he showed me the most beautiful tiara I had ever seen in my entire life.” Her gray eyes opened up and she smirked.

“He said to me ‘My Simone this was your mother’s and when you get married you can have it.’ and I daydreamed by it all the time. Dreaming of the day I would get to wear it. It was the only thing I had of my mother’s. Someday, I’ll have something for each of you to give you and I hope you take better care of it than I did my tiara. Wherever it ended up. It’s probably in Auclair’s bog knowing my luck. Time has probably ruined it. But someday I’m going to give you something and you need to take care of it. Just like how your daddy takes care of me.”

She lifted Glyn up and kissed him softly. His little gray eyes were full of life as he kicked his feet lightly. He took hold of her hair and Simone smiled. “Someday.”

Lewis paused in the middle of what he was doing with Alshaya and Everett, and looked up at the ceiling. The words that Simone used sounded sad and melancholy, longing for the past. There was a spark of an idea, and immediately he cut the resonance, trying his hardest to contain the excitement he felt. Once he felt it was under control, he let it come back.

There had been an idea brewing in the back of his mind, a place where he could hide it from Simone as long as she didn’t dig too deep. It was a secret plan that required a lot of work and effort to pull off. He had already talked to Angela about it, and she had given her thoughts and ideas to add to it. It would take a lot of work to pull off, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve, and a lot of favors he could call in to make it work.

And as it turned out, there was one favor he could call in now.

Simone, there are a few jobs I need to do in order to wrap up the last of the assassin business. One of them is going down tomorrow, so I’ll need to leave early. I know this is sudden, but with Glyn and everything, I forgot to let you know… She would feel a little sad, but she knew the importance of tying up loose ends.

—

The next day, Lewis cut the resonance full force, and found himself in Sulwal. In the royal chambers, he and Rhenakos stood before King Llywellyn. As usual, Rhenakos looked gruff, and due to it being early, he was half awake, but otherwise geared up to explore.

Lewis was similar. Instead of an assassin’s garb, he was wearing more of an explorer’s garb, but still carried his bow and daggers.

“…and so, I need your help,” Lewis finished explaining. “What do you think? Is it even possible to find it? And…if not, do you think we can recreate it? After all…” He paused. “It would make the day even more special, and you know it.”

Just be safe my love and keep in contact when you can… Okay? She would have her hands full.

–

Llywellyn thought about it and his wife was looking between the three of them trying to figure out the angle. “It’s possible it’s still there. I remember it, it was one of the first things I saw when I came into Auclair’s throne room. Jurian always kept it close because it reminded him of Camille.”

The elf king got up and beckoned them to call, “We have some portraits of our allies that we kept. We have them restored over time and I came across this one when Simone was staying with us.” Going to the royal library he opened a locked door and took them in. “Normally I wouldn’t let you in but you aren’t here for secrets…”

He found the painting and brought it out, “This is Camille Simone Beatrice Monet Auclair, the queen of Auclair. Simone’s mother. That is her tiara.” He pointed it out and it was picture perfect of what it looked like. “Simone was named after her mother. Simone Beatrice Auclair. Though she doesn’t talk about it often anymore. The Monets owned a gold mine and that’s how Jurian ended up engaged to Camille. Family ties and all but those two definitely fell in love. Simone is a spitting image of her mother but she has Jurian’s eyes.”

Thinking Llywellyn smirked, “I bet you they put it in the old treasury when the fire started thinking they could put it out. We would just have to make our way down to it though it might take a lot of work.”

Lewis followed Llywellyn down the hall. Rhenakos waved his hand, choosing not to go with. He wasn’t interested in the paintings, and instead focused his efforts on a pretty elf woman.

“That’s….a complex name,” Lewis said. He could almost understand why King Jurian decided to shorten Simone’s name. It was a mouthful to say otherwise. “She looks almost exactly like Simone. I’m…surprised,” he said with a smile. “I bet she doesn’t even know this painting exists.” He wondered how much it would cost to buy it off of Llywellyn, or if he would even part with it.

“That tiara…it’s…not what I expected.” Lewis had been expecting something large and gaudy, but this was more elegant than anything else. He wasn’t great when it came to aesthetics, though, but that didn’t matter. This was for Simone, and getting it would be worth it all in the end.

Assuming they could find it.

“We’d have to find the vault of a destroyed nation. Assuming people like Vela haven’t raided it…” Lewis sighed. Drake and Vela were in the business of relic hunting, and he wondered if someone like them had already scoured the place clean. “It wouldn’t hurt to look. Llywellyn, do you think you can come with? Even as a thief, I never went for something this intricate, and I wouldn’t know the first place to look for a hidden vault.”

This was mostly true. Lewis was sure he could find it given enough time, but time was short and he needed to get everything ready as quickly as possible. He had a surprise to arrange, after all.

“The Montes were a fan of showing their lineage. Simone is Simone’s great grandmother and Beatrice is her great great grandmother. Both made huge strides in bringing in large amounts of money for the family. Her grandmother Esmée would have been added onto Simone’s name had they gone with tradition but Jurian wasn’t a fan of it.”

Llywellyn rubbed the back of his neck and thought about it, “No she doesn’t. I wasn’t sure if I should show her it.” Thinking back on his knowledge of the tiara he hummed a bit, “I think Simone said the tiara had been in her family for one hundred and fifty years. From a time before the Montes were super rich so it was a symbol of their humble beginnings. It always got passed down to the eldest daughter.”

The elf king nodded, “Don’t see why not. I can protect myself and I can leave my son in charge for the time being. If anything happens I’ll just come back and kick their asses again.” He huffed as it had clearly been a problem in the past.

Once he got changed into another set of clothes he looked a lot less regal with his long red hair pulled back. “I can show you all the way to the vault. Simone once took me underground as a dare. She was scared because of how dark it was but with the way our eyesight works I could see it.”

It didn’t take long to get a portal set up and soon they were on the outskirts of Auclair. “I haven’t been here since the great fire,” the elf king looked sad. “The last time before that I had taken Simone out of the castle for a flower festival. She loved dancing and they never let her go so I took her out. If I had just taken her back to Sulwal…” He was beating himself up and he huffed a bit. “Let’s get going. There’s a corridor in the castle that leads down.”

Once more Lewis stepped into Auclair castle, he took a deep breath. It had been some time since he had come here in reality. There were several times that he had visited here in Simone’s dreams, and even once during a magical event hosted by Lady Angela, though that was a special occasion that meshed a lot of their worlds into one.

Still, it was always special when he came here, if not frightening. Lewis was not one to scare easily, but the silence that this place held wasn’t normal. It was as if it was holding back the screams of terror as those who lived here were slaughtered and burned alive. Now that he was bonded with Simone, the whole place took a completely new meaning, and even now with their resonance cut, he could feel the happiness and sadness clashing inside of him.

He took a deep breath, “I didn’t think coming here would have this effect on me.” Lewis let out a shaky sigh. “I can’t imagine what it would be like for her now…” He wondered if she would want to visit one day, and lay flowers at the throne for her father. It would be sweet…

“Well, let’s get going then.” Lewis looked to Lywellyn. “I’d rather like to get back home…” He realized that he was being snappy, and shook his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean…”

This place holds memories for me too. This was where I almost lost Simone…where we killed that bastard… Perhaps coming here was a mistake. The image of the tiara flashed in his mind, and he remembered the sorrowful smile she had when she spoke of it. No…it’s worth it.