"........." Ashley was silent as Aimee asked her question.

He turned away, and looked ashamed of himself.

"I..." he stammered.

"I... I should go." he said.

"Thank you for the food." he thanked her, moving away from where she'd set up the plate and food.

"But... but I should go." he repeated, and it was clear that he was panicking internally.

Ashley immediately sat down where he was. And it was immediate. No thoughts about it, no hesitation, nothing. Right there on the floor, he sat, and sat still.

"Yes, Ma'am." he replied.

He then bit his lip, shaking a little.

"F... F..." he stuttered, his bottom lip quivering.

"F-Fyrane." he finally spat out.

"M-my name is Ashley... Fyrane..."

Ashley was silent for a moment.

"Wh... what?" he asked.

"I... I'm not? You're not?" he asked her.

"You... you will?" he then asked further.

He then paused for a moment, and looked down at the floor.

".....thank you." he said quietly.

"Been a while since someone didn't run me off because of my name."

Ashley thought for a moment when she asked her question.

"...uh... a bit." he said.

"Like... I know what the elements are, I know what alignment is, I know I'm not supposed to talk about it with people, otherwise I could be in danger..." he listed off.

"And I know how to use mine, even though I'm not technically supposed to be able to."

Ashley thought about what she said for a moment, and then nodded.

"Oh, yes." he said.

"I remember hearing that word a lot when I was with Mistress." he told her.

"She would say they're really powerful, and very useful pawns." he said further.

"I think I heard her say that she wanted to gather up a bunch for some reason, but then someone made her angry, so she killed them and had my brother and I run the gauntlet again."

Ashley looked at Aimee with sheer fascination.

"A pure aligned necromancer?" he asked.

"Woooow!" he exclaimed.

"That's really cool!" he told her. "And really rare, too." he went on.

"So how are you different?" he asked.

"What can you do that's different from your brother?" he asked further.

Ashley looked at the glowing rune quizzically.

"Summon what he cannot...?" he mumbled.

Then, a few seconds later, a glowing white hole appeared in the wall near them, causing Ashley to jump out of sheer surprise. Uriel stepped through it, looking right at Aimee.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"What is it? Want help settling in or something?" he asked further, before noticing Ash.

"Eh?" he muttered.

Uriel approached him, and Ashley shied away a little, instinctively.

However, he didn't run, as Uriel's eyes started to glow pure white, his pupils and irises disappearing.

"...two cracked ribs, numerous bruises, various cuts, some of which are pretty deep..." he listed off, pausing for a moment.

"I can list a few more things that could be considered 'wrong', but then we'd be in a debate as to what is right and wrong, and choice and inheritance, and other prickly subject matters." he then said.

"Regardless, I assumed you meant physical injuries that could be healed, so that's what I see." he told Aimee.

"I do not." Uriel responded.

"Okay." Ashley said.

"Relax, as she said, I won't hurt you." Uriel then said to Ashley.

"...you saw what I am, though, right?" Ashley then asked.

".....yes." Uriel replied. "In more ways than one." he told him.

"..." Ashley was just silent, and looked away.

Uriel and Ashley were silent and just nodded, before she left to get clothing, and medical supplies.

"...I can tell you were judging me." Ashley then said to Uriel.

"In a sense." Uriel responded.

"However, you have nothing to fear from me, or anyone else up there." he said further.

"...really?" Ashley asked.

"Trust me, you're fine." Uriel assured the boy.