They were an odd duo, Keychain and Aqua. Keychain had a small, hesitant walk while Aqua boldly strutted down the streets like she was the princess herself. One too dark and too tall to be human, and the other small and pale, like a young child who was held inside during the blazing summer seasons. Keychain carried a small bag with her while Aqua carried none.

Aqua glanced backwards. Each strand of her dark brown hair flew into her face, covering the star that danced with colors. She shook the hair away. "Jasper!" she shouted to a boy walking a bit far behind the two. "Are you embarrassed about walking close to us or do you not want to live in a real home?"

The boy grumbled something, and moved his head upward to stare at them. Bleached hair slapped his face as the wind blew around him. Only slight would someone notice that he started walking even slower since Aqua's outburst.

Not realizing that the quiet boy was close by, Keychain glanced back. Before speaking, she moved her bag in her arms to balance it better. "Jasper, come on. If you don't hurry up, I'll make you back to the Inn and have you work for your free room."

He sped up.

"Why does he listen to you?" grumbled Aqua. Not even waiting for either of the two to answer, she spoke again, "Come on, my brother will get angry at us if we are later than what I told him."

Keychain stopped. "Your brother is here?" She glanced at Jasper, who shrugged. He never knew about Aqua's older brother, or the other family members of the two girls, since he had only known them for a short time.

A house, a pretty old house, stood taller than what Aqua described it. She opened the door without even knocking or shouting that she was coming in. Instead, she said, "Darren! Are you home or not?"

Keychain made her way through as Aqua disappeared up the creaking stairs. Each room looked like it was abandoned for too long, and was recently being put back to life. Each room was half done. Furniture was pushed to a finished side while everything else was stopped.

"Keychain! It's so good to see you again!" Darren pulled the girl into a hug as he saw her. Him and Aqua matched in skin color and height. Though he was in his thirties, his bright and cheerful face made him seem younger. Still growing, Aqua towered over her brother, who was exactly seven feet.

"It's good to see you, too." She pulled from the hug and examined him. There was something dry on his face. "Were you decorating the rooms upstairs?" He nodded. "Okay. Oh! Meet Jasper, my newest friend who shared the room that I got for free by working at the Inn."

"You make them sound like you did everything and they did nothing." Darren rubbed his hands together, white powder flaking off his hands. He glanced at the door. "Aqua! You left the door open." He went to shut it.

Keychain noticed a small girl standing close to her. The girl stared at Keychain with wide, childlike brown eyes. Wild, black hair tumbled down her small body.

"That's Mitchy," Aqua said, "she trailed behind me after I left the village. Seems like she had no home. I spoke of you often around her, seems like you're now her idol." She sat down in a chair pushed to the wall. "And I was not the one who left the door open, dear brother. It was Jasper."