<span style="font-style: italic">Alais and Liliane</span><br/><br/>Alais nearly growled when an all-too familiar form appeared, gloating and mocking as usual.  Scowling, she took careful note of where he was, pushing Liliane slightly away from him, and when he was done, and Stella had rebuked him, Alais exhaled and turned, punching him in the face without any warning, throwing all of her considerable force behind the blow.  That done, she turned away from the sentrada, ignoring him, and focusing her attention back to Liliane, who was beginning to figure out what they were talking about.  It must beâ€¦surelyâ€¦they were talking about her dad?  They didnâ€™t mean theâ€¦the dead guy, did they?  No, it must be someone else.  She started as her mom knelt next to her, smiling, though there was a strained edge to the expression, worry and stress making her mouth tremble slightly.  â€œRemember how I told you things would beâ€¦different here?  This is what I meant.  Now, can you stay right next to me, please?  I donâ€™t want to be worrying about you any more than I have to.â€<br/><br/>Liliane nodded.  â€œYes, Mom,â€ and stuck close by her side as Alais turned back to the person on the ground.  Liliane carefully didnâ€™t look at them- she didnâ€™t want to see what they looked like, not after falling from so far.<br/><br/>â€œHeâ€™ll be fine,â€ Alais said tiredly.  â€œHeâ€™s gotten back up after far worse.â€  She remembered some of the things she had witnessed Zane go through and shuddered.  â€œAlthoughâ€¦I canâ€™t say that this time is quite like any of the others.â€<span style="font-style: italic">Nothing like them, </span>she thought.  Why wasnâ€™t he moving?  This was taking far longer than she remembered.  But she knew that time blurred your memories, wearing them down and changing them, so you could no longer fully trust in what you once thought you knew.