"What's wrong with you?" Ren turned toward her, now more confused than ever. The familiar bold girl he had known for months seemed to have been replaced by someone completely different. "And why did you run away?"
"I didn't run away," Liora protested, though her defensive position by the window suggested otherwise. "I just... need a moment to..."
"It's for your own good," Ren insisted, beginning to walk toward her again, though now faster a and with more determination. "The fusion will make you much more powerful."
"I know!" Liora shook her head vigorously, her hair catching the light from her Will o' Wisp. "But that doesn't mean it has to be now!"
"Why not now?"
Another flash of blue light, and Liora appeared next to the door.
Ren stopped, finally beginning to realize that catching her would be more complicated than he had initially thought. The girl who had fearlessly explored dangerous caves with him was now fleeing from a simple magical procedure.
'What's wrong with her?'
