“Alright,” Helios said calmly, gesturing for them to lead the way. “Let’s go.”

  Isa and Lea exged annce before starting down the quiet streets of Radiant Garden, their pace quick but cautious. Skuld walked beside Helios, her small frame close to his, her eyes dartiween the boys in front of them and the sprawling town around them.

  “Who’s Yuffie?” she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Helios gnced down at her, his voice low as he replied, “She’s… someone who’s been around the block a few times. A skilled fighter, loyal protector of the people of Radiant Garden, and someone Isa arust. She’s a good person.”

  Skuld tilted her head, her expression thoughtful. “And you trust her?”

  Helios hesitated for a beat before nodding. “To aent. But don’t worry. As long as you stick e, you’ll be fine.”

  They reached a small, well-hidden alley that led to a staircase spiraling upward. At the top was a modest but sturdy building with a wooden sign hanging above the door. It read “Yuffie’s Haven,” and the faint glow of nterns inside hi a warm, weling space.

  Lea pushed open the door without hesitation, and they stepped into a cozy room filled with mismatched furniture and the faint st of vender. ons lihe walls—shurikens, daggers, and even a few swords—and maps and charts covered the table in the ter of the room. The pce had an air of lived-in fort, but it was also clear that the oct took her security seriously.

  “Yuffie!” Lea called out, his voice eg through the space. “We’ve got pany!”

  A moment ter, a figure emerged from a side room—a young woman with short, dark hair and bright, mischievous eyes. She was dressed in a sleeveless green tunic, yellow, scarf, a blue belt, brown shorts, and armguards. She grinned as she saw Isa and Lea but raised an eyebrow at Helios and Skuld.

  “Well, well,” Yuffie said, crossing her arms as she leaned against the doorframe. “Look who finally decided to drop by. And yht new faces. What’s the occasion?”

  Isa stepped forward, his tone calm but firm. “Yuffie, this is Skuld. We need a pce to talk, and your pce seemed the safest.”

  Yuffie’s sharp eyes darted between the group, lingering briefly on Skuld. The girl shifted nervously under her gaze but managed a small smile. Yuffie straightened, her posture rexed but her tone carrying a hint of wariness. “Safe, huh? Alright, e on in. Just don’t go breaking anything.”

  She moved aside, gesturing for them to sit. Isa aook the worn couch, leaving Skuld and Helios to settle in chairs he cluttered table. Yuffie grabbed a stool, sat backward on it, her arms resting on the backrest as she watched them ily.

  “So,” she said, her eyes flig to Helios. “What’s the story here? I don’t usually get uninvited guests, especially ones with mystery written all over them.”

  Helios remained calm, folding his hands in his p. “We’re not here to cause trouble,” he said evenly. “We needed a safe pce to have a discussion, and Isa ahought of here.”

  Yuffie raised an eyebrow. “Safe from what? Or should I say, from who?”

  Helios hesitated, gng briefly at Skuld. The girl looked at him with wide eyes, unsure of how much she should say. He decided to keep it simple. “From people who want to use her for their own purposes. People who won’t stop until they get what they get her back.”

  Yuffie’s expression darkened slightly, the easygoing smile fading. “You’re being deliberately vague, but I get the gist. And those ‘people’—they’re the ones causing the weird stuff around town tely?”

  Isa spoke up before Helios could answer. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. But Skuld’s involved, somehow. And Helios knows more thaelling us.”

  Lea nodded, leaning forward, his arms resting on his knees. “Yeah, Helios. Time to spill. What’s really going on?”

  Helios leaned back slightly in his chair, his face a mask of weariness. He looked at Yuffie, her sharp gaze now tinged with curiosity and suspi, and decided to ease into the half-truth. “Yuffie, do you knoeople have been going missing in Radiant Garden?”

  Yuffie stiffened, her carefree demeanor vanishing. Her arms fell from the backrest of the stool, and she leaned forward. “Missing?” she repeated, her voice sharp. “What do you know about that?”

  Lea and Isa exged fused gnces, and Skuld’s brow furrowed in worry. “Missing people?” Isa asked, his tone uain. “What are you two talking about?”

  Helios let out a soft sigh, his eyes closing briefly as he gathered his thoughts on how to spin this story. “For some time now,” he began, his voice calm but deliberate, “people have been disappearing from Radiant Garden. It’s not random—it’s calcuted. And it’s mostly people who wouldn’t be missed. The vulnerable. The unnoticed.”

  The room fell silent, the gravity of Helios’s words sinking in. Yuffie’s eyes narrowed, and her voice carried a hard edge. “Do you know who’s behind it?” she asked. “Squall, Aerith, and I noticed the pattern a few days ago. We’ve been looking into it, but we haven’t found much yet. If you know something, Helios, now’s the time to speak up.”

  Helios’s gaze darkened, and his voice dropped to a grim tone. “You’re better off dropping it. There’s no hope for those people—they’re already dead.”

  The weight of his words hit the group like a physical blow. Lea’s usual smirk faded entirely, and Isa’s calm expression turned cold. Yuffie’s fists ched oool, her knuckles white.

  “What do you mean, dead?” Yuffie demanded, her voice low and fierce. “If you know who’s doing this, we could stop them. We could save people before it’s too te.”

  Helios shook his head, his expression resolute. “No,” he said firmly. “You ’t stop this. It’s bigger than you, bigger than all of us. If you keep digging, you’ll just end up like them. For your own safety, let it go.”

  Yuffie’s eyes bzed with defiance, but before she could argue further, Helios turo Isa and Lea. His tone softened slightly as he shifted the versation. “As for Skuld,” he said, “the people behind the disappearances wanted her too. They inteo kill her, just like the others. They were going to take her from the castle, so I rescued her before they could.”

  Lea and Isa’s fusion deepeheir expressions mirr one another. “Castle?” Isa asked, his voice sharp with suspi. “What castle?”

  Before Helios could respond, Yuffie cut in, her frustration boiling over. “Hold on. You’re saying there’s a castle involved in all this? What are you talking about?”

  Helios sighed heavily, his patience wearing thin. Without a word, he raised his hand, and a faint shimmer of magiveloped the room. A Stop spell. Yuffie, Lea, and Isa froze in mid-motion, their eyes locked iheir words id-sentence.

  Isa and Lea exged uneasy gheir frustration evident even in their frozen expressions. Yuffie, frozen mid-motion, her posture tense and defiant, seemed caught on the verge of another demand. Skuld’s quiet gasp broke the stillhat hung in the magically frozen room, her wide eyes refleg a mix of fear and realization.

  “Helios,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Why did you… why did you freeze them?”

  Helios turo her, his blue eyes looked weary but there was something darker held within. “Because I o expin without interruption,” he said firmly, his voice calm but carrying an uone ency. “This isn’t something they be a part of—not without putting themselves in danger. And you.”

  Skuld’s gaze darted between the frozen figures of Lea, Isa, and Yuffie before settling ba Helios. Her voice quivered as she spoke. “The people at the castle,” she said, barely louder than a whisper, “the researchers… they’re the ones behind the disappearances, aren’t they? They’re the oaking people.”

  Helios nodded, his expression darkening. “Yes. They’re taking people to experiment on them—people they think won’t be missed, people with no oo protect them like orphans.”

  Skuld’s hands flew to her mouth as the weight of his words sank in. Her small frame trembled, and her voice cracked as she asked, “And they were going to do the same thing to me? To… to take me and…”

  Helios’s gaze softened, and he nodded again, his voice gentler now. “That’s why I had to get you out of there. You were , Skuld. If I hadn’t taken you, they would have…”

  Tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Her small body shook as she hugged herself tightly. “It’s horrible,” she said, her voice breaking. “How could anyone… how could they do this?”

  Helios pced a hand on her shoulder, his touch firm but f. “They ower,” he expined, his voice calm but cold. “They’re experimenting on people, trying to harhe darkness in their hearts. But their experiments never end well. For the people they take… there’s no ing back.”

  Skuld shuddered at his words, her tears falling freely now. “Why?” she asked again, her voice breaking. “Why are they doing this? Why me?”

  Helios hesitated, his jaw tightening. “Because you’re different,” he said after a moment. “Your heart is special, strong in a way they ’t replicate. They want to use that strength—for their own twisted ends.”

  Skuld looked down, her hands clutg the edges of her chair. “And Lea and Isa,” she whispered. “They… they were allowed to visit me at the castle. They weren’t stopped, evehe researchers knew about them. Mr. Ansem said it was good to have friends and pretended not to see them.”

  Helios nodded, his expression grim. “Because they were using them. They wao see if your heart could influehe hearts of those close to you. And it did acc to their research your heart made theirs strohey figured out that your hearts are now ected and that the best way to get to you is to...”

  Skuld’s eyes widened in horror, her tears slowing as the realization hit her. “They… they would take them? To get to me?”

  Helios met her gaze, his voice steady but filled with an edge of warning. “Yes. Even with my charm proteg you, they’ll figure it out who you are if you keep spending time with them. They’ll use them to track you, and ohey do…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but the weight of his unspoken words hung heavy in the air.

  Skuld wiped at her tears with trembling hands, her resolve slowly hardening. “I don’t want them to get hurt,” she said quietly. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”

  Helios nodded, his expression softening slightly. “That’s why you o trust me,” he said in a gentle voice dripping with a maniputive uone. “We’re safe for now, but only if we’re careful. That means keeping your Keybde hidden, avoiding unnecessary risks, and staying close to me. you do that?”

  Skuld sniffled, her tear-streaked face lifting to meet his gaze. She nodded slowly, determination shining through her fear. “I’ll do it,” she said, her voice quiet but resolute. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them safe.”

  Helios’s lips curved into a faint, fleeting smile. “Good,” he said. “We’ll figure this out. Together.”