On the other side of the world, inside the Zoller Dukedom, the atmosphere was gloomy. It seemed as if a dark cloud had stopped above the estate. This cloud has only gotten darker as time passed on.

Underneath the estate, Elizabeth sat in front of multiple large monitors, her hair disheveled and eyes sunken in, searching for a trace of Mika’s whereabouts. Her eyes never left the screen as she examined traffic cameras, skimmed through databases hoping to find Mika’s name, and went through photos of anyone with red hair.

Her eyes constantly twitched, refusing to blink as they scanned every bit of information.

*Schloop*

The door opened behind her, but she was so entranced by the monitors that she failed to notice footsteps approaching.

Cain, who entered the room, stared at his wife with sad eyes as his heart clenched in pain.

‘I wish I could ease her pain.’

His eyes quivered for a second, but he quickly controlled his emotions, took a deep breath, and walked up to her.

“Honey, it’s time for dinner. Why don’t you join the kids and me upstairs?”

Elizabeth’s body trembled for a second, but her eyes never left the screens.

Cain sighed, but this reaction did not surprise him. He has been through this process many times over the last year. Although he felt that his wife was too hard on herself, it wouldn’t be right of him to criticize her. She just missed her child, as any mother should.

He grasped the chair she sat in and spun her around-

“NOOO!!”

Elizabeth screamed as she could no longer see the screens. She tried to swivel the chair around, but Cain’s firm grip stopped her from doing so.

Now that Elizabeth was facing him, Cain could get a good look at his wife.

Her eyes were bloodshot, she had deep dark bags under her eyes, and she seemed to have lost weight.

His heart ached to see his wife, his lifelong partner, in so much pain, but there was only so much he could do in this situation.

‘I need to be her pillar during these challenging times. She needs me now more than ever, but ‌with how she’s acting right now, she’s only hurting herself.’ Cain shook his head.

Elizabeth stared at her husband with red eyes and growled, “Turn me back around. I need to find Mika.”

Cain didn’t react to her words and said gently, “Your children, Adam, Nathan, and Olivia, miss you. I miss you. Please come and have dinner with your family. Everyone’s worried about you.”

He carefully chose his words to manipulate her, but he was okay with that. He didn’t do it out of ill intent. She needed help right now, and seeing her family would do her more good than harm.

Elizabeth opened her mouth, but no words came out. Clarity shone in her tired eyes for a few seconds as Cain’s words reverberated through her mind.

‘My children… My husband… M-My family… Ho-How could I forget about them?!’

She lowered her head, her hair covering her face, as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

“Sniff… I-I’m… I’m so-sorry. I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to get mad. I-I’ll go up with you.”

Cain said nothing else and embraced her in a warm, gentle hug filled with love. As she inhaled her husband's familiar and comforting scent, Elizabeth’s emotions erupted like a tidal wave. She wrapped her arms around his waist and cried her heart out.

A gentle, loving smile appeared on Cain’s face as he rubbed her back softly.

The two stayed in this position for a few minutes before Elizabeth calmed down. She separated from Cain and looked at him with apologetic eyes.

“I-I’m sorry for not being in your and the children’s lives lately. It’s just-”

Before she could finish that sentence, Cain pressed a finger against her lip and said, “You don’t need to explain yourself. I know you’re worried about Mika. We all are. However, I feel your efforts would be better spent somewhere else.”

“But-!” Elizabeth tried to say something, but Cain interrupted her again.

“I know what you want to say, but you don’t need to be down here. We have Artificial Intelligence searching around the clock for any clues about Mika. On the other hand, our job is to look for Mika in places where the A.I. can’t explore.”

“But, what if the Artificial Intelligence misses something?!”

Cain’s eyes narrowed as he looked his wife up and down. After a few moments of silence, he asked in a low voice, “What if YOU miss something?”

Elizabeth froze, almost as though lightning had struck her. She touched her face, feeling her sunken cheeks. Then she messed with her tangled, messy hair, and something clicked in her mind.

“I-I see. I’m a mess, aren’t I? I haven’t slept well in months nor eaten much of anything. What right do I have to criticize the A.I. when I’m barely functioning?” She muttered, now feeling worse about herself.

Cain flicked her forehead and shook his head.

“Ouch! Hey! Why’d you do that?!” Elizabeth cried out, holding her forehead.

“Stop thinking so much. I was just saying you should spend your time elsewhere. Even if you were in perfect condition, I would say the same thing. You’re just a human‌. You can’t process information as fast as an A.I. can. Your time would be better spent somewhere else.”

Seeing that Elizabeth wanted to say something, Cain waved his hand and said, “Alright, enough about that. Let’s go up and have dinner with the kids right now.”

Elizabeth rubbed her eyes, clearing away the tears, and nodded.

Cain held her hand and pulled her along out of the room.

On the ground floor of the estate, in the kitchen, Olivia, Adam, and Nathan sat around a table, waiting for their parents.

“Do you think Mom will show up today?” Olivia asked, playing with her fork.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Adam shrugged, “Probably. Since Dad went down there, he should be able to drag Mother out of the basement.”

Nathan chimed in, “Dad is an expert in dealing with Mom. Unfortunately, he’s often gone for days at a time, out searching for Mika.”

Olivia nodded, “True. Mom wouldn’t be in such terrible shape if Dad were here more often.”

Suddenly, they heard a door open, and their heads swiveled in that direction.

“Mom!”

“Mother!”

“Mom!”

They shot up from their seats and ran over to Cain and Elizabeth. They ignored her swollen eyes, showing she’d been crying, and hugged her.

Elizabeth returned and gave her children a gentle yet tired smile.

“Hey, everyone. I-Is it okay if I join you for dinner?” She asked.

“Of course, Mother! You can spend as much time with us as you want,” Adam said.

Elizabeth nodded with a smile, and the five of them walked to the dinner table.

However, they heard a knock at the front door before they could sit down.

“I’ll get it!” Olivia shouted and ran off to answer the door.

Everyone smiled at this sight, as they understood why she was so excited.

“I guess the person at the door is Akira Raven, seeing how enthusiastic Olivia is,” Elizabeth commented.

Cain nodded and said, “It should be. Earlier today, she mentioned something about Akira coming over.”

“That’s great! She can join us for dinner!”

Elizabeth clapped her hands excitedly and waited for Olivia to return with Akira.

A minute later, Olivia returned, holding hands with a small black-haired child who didn’t look a day over five years old.

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Zoller. It’s nice to see you again.” Akira walked over and greeted Cain and Elizabeth.

“Nice to see you again as well, Akira,” Cain said, giving her a nod.

“Good evening, Akira. How are you? I haven’t seen you in a while. Are you still practicing your swordsmanship?” Elizabeth smiled and asked.

Akira nodded. “Yup, but I don’t think I’m very talented. I’ve been training for a while now, but I still don’t think I can do what Mika did.”

Elizabeth’s eyes dimmed, but in an effort to hide her feelings, she chuckled at Akira’s words.

“Fufufu~ Oh, Little Akira… You shouldn’t compare yourself to Mika. She’s a one-of-a-kind talent. If you try to compare yourself to her, you’ll only end up disappointed.”

Cain nodded at Elizabeth’s words and said, “She’s right, Akira. I’ve also been training my swordsmanship for a year now, but I’m nowhere near her skill level.”

Akira’s eyes opened wide as she could hardly believe what she was hearing! She’d always known Mika was unique but didn’t realize how much. Only now did she understand maybe Mika was a bit more special than she initially thought.

“So, you’re weaker than Mika?” Akira asked.

Cain’s expression fell, and his lip twitched. He felt a sense of déjà vu, so to correct her misunderstanding, he said, “Cough… No, Akira. I’m much stronger than Mika. She’s just more talented with a sword than I am.”

“Oh.”

Akira was sad to hear that her idol wasn’t stronger than Cain, but she quickly got over it and switched the conversation to something else.

“Where is Mika? Has she come home yet?”

Akira asked with an expectant look.

She hadn’t seen Mika ever since the day a voidling stabbed her in the stomach, and nobody would tell her where she went. She wanted nothing more than to express her gratitude and maybe become friends with her.

Everyone’s expressions became awkward at Akira’s question, as they couldn’t bring themselves to tell her the truth.

“She’s… far away right now,” Cain said, avoiding eye contact with Akira.

“Do you know when she might come back?” Akira asked.

Cain shook his head.

“No, Akira. I’m sorry, I do not.”

Akira lowered her head, dejected, causing the atmosphere around the table to become somber. They all missed Mika and wanted her to be with them right now. Some felt worse than others, but they were all saddened by her disappearance.

Olivia clenched her fists underneath the table and gritted her teeth. Flashbacks of when Mika took on hordes of voidlings and pushed her and Akira to safety resurfaced in her mind. She remembered how Mika, her little sister, put her life on the line to protect them.

She remembered how she just stood there, scared to death, as Mika tore through enemies. Instead of playing the part of the big sister and protecting her little sister, she was nothing more than a burden.

In the end, she couldn’t even thank Mika before she disappeared to who knows where!

‘Mika might not have disappeared if I wasn’t so useless! But never again! Never again will I cower in fear! I won’t let such a tragedy happen to me! Not now and not in the future!’

Olivia swore to herself.

She knew Mika might still be out there, surviving, trying to find her way back home, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t have doubts.

The same went for the entire family.

Mika’s been gone for over a year now, and they have found nothing related to her. It’s as if she never existed.

While Cain and Elizabeth spent most of their days searching for her, it was all fruitless. At some point, they’ll have to face reality.

Mika… might not be alive anymore.

The Zoller Family ate dinner in silence as none of them were in the mood to talk.

After they finished, Olivia dragged Akira to the training room, and she began wailing away at the punching bag.

Cain and Elizabeth watched her train with saddened eyes. What was once a cheerful, tomboyish little girl was now a determined youth who didn’t want to be scared and weak anymore.

“Is she still blaming herself for what happened?” Elizabeth asked, but she already knew the answer.

Cain nodded.

“Yeah. She still thinks it’s her fault that Mika disappeared.”

Elizabeth sighed when she heard that, but she wasn’t any different.

“Well, it’s not like I’m any better. If I had not stood there and watched Mika fight, I could’ve prevented all of this.”

“Honey…”

Cain reached over to comfort his wife, but she shook her head.

“There’s no need to comfort me. We both know I’m right. While I still don’t know how Mika knew what was going to happen, and all of this almost felt premeditated, I still stand by the belief that all of this is my fault. However, I believe Mika is still out there, and I will find her before anything terrible happens to her!” Elizabeth raised her fist and declared with fire in her eyes.

Cain nodded with a proud smile that said, ‘Yes! This is the woman I know and love!’.

“I believe you’re right, Honey, but it’ll take a bit more work on our part. So far, we’ve checked many of the surrounding human kingdoms, but I think it’s time we branch out and start looking at other races and some of the smaller human countries on the other side of the world.”

“Mhmm. Then, let’s start there!”

***

In an unknown location, deep in the void, an amorphous black creature stood in front of thousands of voidlings! The creature had no face, no limbs, nothing. It was just a blob of darkness that had somehow gained sentience.

It ‘stared’ at the voidlings in front of it, and a hole appeared in what seemed like its head.

It then released a few gurgling noises as if it was speaking, “*My subjects! The last invasion to find The Origin and its chosen one was a success! We have found the home planet of the chosen one!*”

*Clack!**Clack!**Clack!**Clack!**Clack!*

The voidlings clapped their limbs together in excitement, but before they could get too rowdy, a monstrous pressure descended on them, and they shut up.

“*Prepare yourselves, my subjects! Your time to invade is coming! While the Origin has strengthened the shield around the chosen one’s universe, it won’t take us long to break it once again! This time, I’ll be able to send more of you to invade The Origin and kill its chosen one! We cannot allow her to live for our plans to succeed!*”

*CLACK**CLACK**CLACK**CLACK**CLACK**CLACK**CLACK*

The voidlings went nuts, and the creature didn’t bother stopping them.

‘I’m coming for you, Origin. Your Chosen One will not be able to escape my grasp this time.’