August stared at the sight in disbelief. Piles of sand filled the former home, and the walls were dirty and washed out. What used to be a comely, large, and extravagant mansion was reduced to only a fraction of its former glory. August inhaled sharply and turned her gaze back to Dawn’s icy blue eyes—almost purple. “_This _is where my ancestors used to live?” She asked, unable to hide the scowl forming on her face. Dawn shrugged elegantly, stepping into the ruined property. The garden was dead, all of the plants having been neglected and those that survived were overgrown and hideous. The door was torn off the hinges, and the windows’ glass was cracked and shattered, some of the shards scatted along the sand. It was a large. It was a husk of what it used to be.

“To be fair, it has been five hundred years, August,” Dawn murmured softly, tucking a strand of her ash-blonde hair behind her ear with a frown stretching along her almost elven features.

August shook her head, crossing her arms stiffly. “I know, but _still. _Five hundred years wouldn’t break down doors and windows!” She exclaimed. The destruction was even stranger than the fact this property was in some sort of smaller dimension that was a moderately large desert oasis for her family to reside in at first.

Until they went against the Guild.

She slowly rolled her mind around, ogling the disastrous, almost apocalyptic scene.

“Five hundred years might not but . . .” Dawn trailed off, for once, she was hesitating to speak the truth.

“But what?” August demanded the older girl.

Dawn sighed, averting her gaze. “After the Guild defeated the Mohaves, they ransacked their property for evidence, and people that could have been involved before the trials happened.”

Once again, the sickening twist in her stomach seemed to tearing apart her insides by squeezing them and then yanking at them with ferocity.

“What of the children?”

Dawn frowned. “If they were old enough, they would be sent with the family once they were exiled. If not . . .”

“What happened to the children, Dawn?”

“. . . The younger ones were put into some of the other families of the guild. Their true heritage forgotten.”

August should have expected the collected, calm tone Dawn had, but every time he heard it, she felt the same gut wrenching despair whenever it was something so devastating. She couldn’t help but whisper, “What was wrong with them?”

Dawn sighed softly. “The Caldwells wanted the Mohaves punished, but the Tremblay and Takahashi families wanted to be a bit more lenient.”

August suddenly felt extremely glad that whatever ancestor she had that led to her birth eventually . . . That she wasn’t the descendant of one of the children who were torn away from their families. August let out a soft chuckle, unable to help herself. “Wow.”

“Wow is one way to put it.”

“I have another way to put it.”

Dawn raised a cautious eyebrow. “. . . I’m unsure on whether I should trust that.”

August forced a light-hearted grin. “Damn my idiotic ancestors.”

“And that’s why I didn’t want to ask.”