"And that's why you're probably hallucinations!" Ruth says, voice rising with stress. "I don't want to go back, they're going to send me back-"

Anderson draws her away from the table before she can keep going, arm around her shoulders.

"She means her parents, doesn't she," Emarila says sadly. It's not a question.

"Do we all-" Emmalina starts, then stops when she sees everyone nodding. "All our parents are like that?"

"Mine aren't!"

"You're-"

"-adopted!"

"They're still great," Emra says stubbornly. "My egg parents only gave me up because I'm a shren, and my parents knew I was a shren and took me anyway."

"What's a shren?"

"No one has shrens?" Emra says, looking surprised by the confirmations. "That's... Probably good? Shrens are- they can happen to dragons, sometimes. Shren eggs instead of dragon eggs. It's- we're- bad. We can't fly, and it hurts, and- it's good, not having shrens."

Morgan nods with understanding. "I'm a monster, too."

"We're not monsters, just... being a shren is bad?" Emra tries.

"At least you can look like a human. I'm stuck in Avalon with the other monsters."

"...um. Are you a weird kind of centaur somehow? Centaurs where I'm from aren't monsters..."

"Uh, I don't know what you mean by 'weird', but I think I'm a normal centaur? Um, at least of the ones I've met. Monsters just can't look like humans, we don't have shapeshifting medallions."

"And what, you just... let people call you a monster!?"

"That's what you're called if you don't have a medallion!"

"At least you have magic?"

"Trade you."

Anderson looks up from the corner where she's been soothing Ruth. "Gods almighty, you all need therapists."

"Not you, Ruth, you need literally anything else."

"Do you have one?"

"Not right now, but I've had one, yeah. I'm married, remember? I, uh, had to get through wedding planning somehow." Various Emmas nod in understanding. "My parents cared weirdly a lot about, well, weirdly a lot."

"Yeahhhh. Just... no one let our parents matchmake for you," Emarila advises wearily.