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The island was bright and sunny. A perfect sumer day, as far as weather went. But things were not so sunny for the hunters who lived here. There was no running water, no power except in facilities that most required it, memories were lost, and death had made it's presence heavily known, reminding them all how mortal they all were.

Otto sat with Eva outside the main building. A change in scenery. Some fresh air. But it didn't seem to penetrate his heart. It still ached just as fresh and painfully as it had when he'd first heard the news. The only upside was he'd finally stopped crying. Likely he'd run himself dry.

The blonde remained silent, his only reprieve that he had what he considered to be the best company on the island.

Reine was lucky she hadn't had many belongings to pack; that the hunter who'd picked her up off the base seemed similarly disinclined to conversation. Clutching a small bag, she stepped through the portal, from darkness- nights were long, in the arctic- to almost blinding light.

The life trainee almost tripped over her feet, looking around; nothing had really prepared her for coming back to the island, not even all those daydreams. It looked boring; as it had when she'd stayed here. It looked a little more worn than it had when she'd left, so long ago--

Behind her, the portal closed with a sharp hissing sound. Aria had already left, and Reine took a wobbly step towards the main Deus building, lifting a hand to shield the sunlight from her face. And ahead of her was.. Reine squinted, unsure if she was seeing who she thought she was.. like a desert mirage, she couldn't believe she'd run right into the two people she most wanted to see.

And to top it off, one of them even had pink hair.

Standing out in the courtyard, Reine laughed, tears streaking down her cheeks. God, she probably looked insane to whoever else was around, but that didn't matter. Her best friends were alive, and one of them had dyed his hair pink, and..

"Hi." The greeting sounded less like a greeting and more of a sniffle, and there were still tears streaking down her face.

And then there it was, the one thing that Eva needed to lift her spirits.

She immediately scrambled up to her feet, but stood frozen as she gaped at the figure that was making their way towards them. Even as she took in the familiar features, heard the greeting, and watched the blond rush forward to envelop their friend in a hug, she found that she still couldn't move, her blue eyes round. Her mind kept replaying the same words over and over again.

R-reine. She's okay, she's back, she's alive, she's--

Going to die of old age if you don't go greet her right now, Chara interrupted, and though it was spoken with an exasperated tone, there was a kind of fondness behind it as well. Her partner gave her a mental push, and that was all that she really needed.

Eva started towards them, first and a walk, then a jog, and then eventually a sprint that culminated in her leaping at them, arms wrapping tightly around the pair. "Reine! You're back! You're really, really back!" She may have been crying again, a common occurrence in the past few hours, but the catalyst for these tears was the complete and utter joy that she felt rushing through her at the reappearance of one of her best friends.

Ps. she was not going to let go anytime soon.

It felt so good to have this moment. He'd been aching for any break from his broken heart and this was it. Something happy, something familiar. His girls were here, all of them so close and so real. He'd never take this for granted ever again. He'd never once make any of these precious people feel like he didn't want them around again. They couldn't end up like Clerise. He'd never told her how much he loved her. How much he needed her. And now she'd never know.

Otto also only pulled away slightly as the long hug came to a pause, looking up with reddened eyes at the familiar face of Reine. Her words brought a lump to his throat, tears threatening to pour again as Clarice and Clerise's faces flashed in his mind. He'd never seen them die. They'd simply gone without him knowing.

Otto swallowed hard, his gaze dropping again. It hurt to breathe just thinking about the hole that she'd left in his heart. "Yeah.." He whispered quietly, gripping onto Eva and Reine's arms tightly, as if they too could vanish if he turned his back.

It took a while to sink in, Eva's comment replaying over and over in her head.

Clerise and Clarice.

Clerise and Clarice.

Not once during those long months in the arctic had she ever felt so cold, the chill of despair, that feeling of nausea as her brain tried to reject what she had just heard, no, not Clerise too. It was like the world had turned completely upside down; absently, she tugged on both Eva and Otto's coats, just to make sure they were still there, and then another thought she'd managed to force to the back of her mind until now came up again, and her throat went dry.

"Who else?" Her mind was working on overdrive, calling back to memory all the faces of the hunters she'd known, personally or even just by name; she hadn't even noticed herself practically hyperventilating, her heart skipping beats. Not even a grin from Evie managed to soothe her, as it usually would.

"What happened while I was gone?"

The grin on her face faltered, and then immediately faded away upon seeing the look on Reine's face. Oh god, had she not known...? Eva opened her mouth to say something, but found that she was at a loss for words, helpless as she watched the realization that one of their friends had died settled into Reine's mind. This was not the type of reunion Eva had wanted. She knew that she should have felt blessed that they had reunited at all--and she did--but even their joy couldn't wash away all of the other feelings that were plaguing them.

"A lot has happened," She agreed quietly, before setting her lips into a tight line at Otto's words. It was true--although Eva had continued to think of Reine, a small part of her mind had kept telling her that the girl was probably gone for good. Although she had adamantly ignored it at first, it had continued to grow bigger and bigger, until...

...Well, in the end, the small voice in her head had been wrong. Shifting uncomfortably, she was certain to keep her voice soft and gentle as she continued, "Is there anyone you want to ask about in particular? Most of us have managed to stick it out through these months, so..." The corners of her lips quirked upwards in a faint, encouraging smile.

Otto didn't do much in the way of fussing as his hair got ruffled, his eyes still focused on the ground much like a sulking kid. "M'glad yer safe too.." He mumbled quietly, shy about saying such a thing now that his initial burst of emotions from earlier ebbed.

He took a quick glance around. A lot of hunters were giving them odd looks. "Mm... yeah.." He had no idea if Reine's room was still there. They could check.

"Power outage?" Reine made a face as she linked arms with both of her best friends, leading them into the building. "That's gotta be pretty bad. Come to think of it.. I couldn't use the usual portal back here either; just followed Aria when she stopped over. You know.. way back when... there was some kind of attack, wasn't there? I don't think Mr Cuddles made it out of that one."

There was something distinctly strange about what Eva said before, though she couldn't place it exactly. Shrugging the thought away, she slipped her hand into the other girl's, enjoying being around them again. Walking down the hallway, Reine was surprised to find she still remembered her way around- and then suddenly, right as they were entering the dorms, it hit her.

Eva and Otto were her neighbours, weren't they? That meant.. they should know if her room was okay. She felt a twinge of disappointment, having expected to come back to the way things had been before; clearly, she'd been far too naive.

Suddenly she almost dreaded finding out what her room was like, or even what had happened to Eva's and Otto's. Pulling back a little, she gently pushed Otto forward, a small, slightly strained smile on her face.

"I forgot my own room number," she laughed, a little too loudly. "You lead the way, Puppy."