The young princess, shy and depressed, wound her way through the trees. She liked climbing, flying up high in trees then clambering around. It helped her avoid others. Plus, on windy days, the trees drowned out her crying.
When she heard her father’s call, it took a while for it to register. Alectrona had not eaten for three days, and she was not paying attention anyhow. She reluctantly wound down from the tree, hopping down. Flying through the underbrush, barely three feet off the earth, she arrived there after the new family, Artemis, and the queen. She wasn’t paying attention to her parents, but rather, the bloodied pair in the middle. Alectrona screamed.
Her brain couldn’t make sense of it. There was Lazarus, the spirit girl tasked with keeping an eye on Hawthorne. She was dead. And had the kitsune man, blind in one eye and standing behind them, murdered her? But no, he had no blood on him. So did Artemis? But then why was she crying? Alectrona shook violently. Where were her siblings? Marika, Marius, Cosette, Shuu? Where were they?
Was Iris okay? Aeolus, Apollo? Alectrona’s parents looked unscathed. Were they being attacked? Was there a war? Who else was dead? Was she about to die?
Oh please God no, no no no. She shrank back. She hadn’t even noticed Misty blunder into the clearing. The kappa now stood on alert, nose sniffing the air. Marika swooped in-“What’s going on? Is there a fire? Oh my God why is Lazarus fricking dead?!” All this put Alectrona’s brain on overload.

“Ain’t it funny how you managed to just wash away?”