Katrin was crying.
Colin said nothing, did nothing. He just stayed with her.
A lady found them there, sitting in the village square of Crabby island, Comrades all around them; a wolfcat and a wolf, a panther and a kitten, two bears and a mouse, two birds and a small dinosaur.
"Katrin?" she asked softly.
Colin looked at her, saw the green of her eyes, the black of her hair, the shape of her face. He knew her at once. "Are you… Katrin's mom?"
She nodded slowly. "Are you… Colin?"
"I am."
She sat down with them, even though there was no mat or bench. She put an arm around them each. "What happened?"
"I…" Katrin said at last, the first thing she'd said since she arrived at this island. "I lost… everything."
"Everything?" Katrin's mom asked.
"Except my friend." Katrin ended in a whisper. "And he…"
"Don't mention it." Colin told her quietly. "Just… don't."
She fell silent.
Katrin's mom studied the pair of them, and the Comrades around them. She glanced at their badges.
But all she said was, "I see."
And somehow, it seemed that she truly did.
They said nothing more.
***
Michi sighed, watching them from afar. With her was Connor, Colin's dad. She turned to him. "I told you not to push the Green Men too hard."
"We had to do {something}." Connor answered. "We expected them to hit back at us. They weren't supposed to go after the kids."
"The kids are what they came for in the first place." Michi reminded him. "Of course they'd go after the kids."
"Well, the cat's out of the sack now, and there's nothing for it but to finish what we started." Connor turned away.
Michi didn't comment on that. She glanced back to Colin and Katrin and Katrin's mom. "Aren't you going to him?"
"The kids will be safe as long as she's here." Connor said.
"That's not what I meant and you know it." Michi paused. "It seems he's found the Ancient Ways. Made a link with the Lower Plane from there."
Connor paused. "How did he even find the Ways?"
"He was after Kyria, Midnight and Felice. Some people think he's the only one who can get them, because Shiro's with him. Apparently, they're too dangerous to leave loose."
Connor thought it over. "I see."
"That's it? That's all you're going to say?"
"Yeah." Connor answered.
Michi threw up her hands. "Fine. He's your son. I have to get back to Phillip."
"Yeah." Connor said again, and they left.