Breaking free of her flashback, Amelia's knees gave out.

Karteira and Orion both caught an arm each and dropped her carefully on the scorched earth.

"Are you alright Amelia?"

Asking while taking a bottle of water from her bag, Karteira then handed it to her.

She took the bottle, and stared at the area where the ground wasn't burned.

'I am really from this place, and my mother was the woman named Henrietta.'

Feeling a little sick, she opened the bottle and drunk it.

"Amelia, did you see something?"

Orion crouched next to her and caressed her head, trying to help her relax.

"Yes, this is indeed my birthplace, and this is where I was left."

She pointed at the area not burnt.

"I don't know what happened after that, but I saw my mother get attacked by that Apostle, like it Kamala described."

'She is a beautiful woman. Why did this have to happen to her?'

Amelia thought about Henrietta, until something caught her attention.

'Is?! Why did I think that instead of 'was'?'

She opened her eyes wide, and looked around her.

Broken buildings, burnt bodies, all of it scorched by the horrendous fire magic of Kelvin.

Hurriedly, she stood up, and walked to the spot.

"Amelia?"

Orion watched as she followed her gut feelings, as she looked around the burnt crater.

"There's nothing! How could this be?"

The other two joined her, worried.

"Orion, there's no corpse! My mother's corpse is not here!"

She was right, because the attack left bodies behind. Even it was hot, in her memories, the explosion only engulfed Kelvin, shown by the melted crater around the center.

Her and Henrietta weren't inside of the attack, only getting hit by the blast of fire that came after. If her mother succumbed to the same attack as the townspeople, she should have left a body behind.

'Where?! Where is she?!'

Even while looking frantically, she was unable to find any corpse in the surroundings.

While she was having a panicking moment, Orion and Karteira exchanged their thoughts.

"Orion, we don't know what happened, but are you able to imagine it?"

"I think I can picture from the damage. And I believe she might be right. A body should have been left behind, but there is not."

Amelia stopped walking around, and listened to Orion quietly.

"There are three options in that case. Maybe four, but that might be a stretch."

"I can also think of three options, can I go first?"

Karteira waited for Orion's nod, before talking again.

"First, she died without leaving any remains behind. She was the closest to the origin point of the attack, and it looked destructive enough to be able to do that."

To that Orion shook his head.

"If that was the case, I believe Amelia would have died too. I don't know by which mean she managed to protect her, but she definitely used magic, which we didn't knew about."

"Her magic was strong enough to protect Amelia, so why did it fail her?"

With a hand on her chin, she answered him.

"Maybe it was easier to focus magic on a smaller target?"

"Let's go with that. Next option?"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"The body was removed. Most likely by the culprit, or someone who came here before us and knew about her."

Karteira looked around.

"But that seems improbable. If that was the case, they would have turned the whole continent upside down to get her child."

"The Apostle wouldn't have left Amelia alive either. Since we don't know what happened after the blast, I doubt he would bother with anything related to her. He wouldn't bother with a burnt corpse either."

To that, Orion agreed.

"She would have been unrecognizable, so there would have been no pride in recovering the body. This is out of the question."

Amelia returned to them, and added the last option.

"Or she survived the blast. I don't know how, but if it was the case, she either got captured by the Apostle, or managed to hide herself."

The words of Kamala surfaced once again in their mind.

"She wasn't captured, that is for sure. If that was the case, we would have known. The other Apostles definitely investigated him, and what more, his city was destroyed when he returned after destroying Bandir."

Orion wasn't concerned about this part.

'There is no she would have let Amelia alone until now. Either she really died, and we will never know, or she is alive, but there are circumstances that makes it impossible for her to return. Either a coma, amnesia, or even worse.'

"What about that fourth option you spoke about?"

At Karteira's words, he stopped thinking, and returned to reality.

"Hmm. About that."

A long silence fell, as he weighted the validity of the claim. Was it worthy enough to be brought up, even at the cost of angering Amelia?

"This is just speculation at this point, don't forget. I don't mean anything by it."

He exchanged a long gaze with Amelia. She understood that his next words could be incredibly painful to hear.

"What if all of this was a setup made by herself?"

"Explain..."

Amelia immediately felt intrigued as why he thought that.

"She might have known a day like this would happen. That woman had to stay alive somehow, and had something to accomplish, even at the expanse of her own child's growth."

"Tell me, how did you manage to get placed in Auro's orphanage if no one came here besides the Apostles? Don't you think one of them would have found you and either adopted you or brought you to their city?"

"Why Auro, a beastman village? This doesn't make sense."

Karteira looked at Orion, than at Amelia.

"Are you saying that she survived the attack, and brought Amelia herself to Auro?"

"Karteira, you might not know, but a few weeks before this carnage happened, a pillar of light fell near Albriar. Guess who was at its base?"

Thinking, the answer came to her naturally. Orion explained to her in the past how he came to be alive in this period, and where that was.

"You! You appeared during the Dragon's Rampage. Impossible, are you saying she knew about you?"

He shook his head with a smile.

"That why I said it was a stretch. There is no way to claim the truth of those words."

But it was different from Amelia.

"Then that would explain a lot of things. If she knew about you, the Shackles, and me, the Key, then obviously, we would inevitably end up together."

"Amelia, you can't think this is seriously happening? Orianne and Reon told me that it was a impossible to separate the two. I don't like to use that word, but in that case, it is our 'fate' to end up together."

'Not entirely though. There was a chance we would never get the chance to know each other, or even be on bad terms.'

He knew that he was lucky the world gave him everything he needed to start his journey before it was too late.

"And I find it strange now that we think about it. What if she is still alive somewhere?!"

"Amelia."

Karteira immediately stopped Amelia by calling her name. Once she caught her attention, she shook her head.

"!"

'Why am I acting like that? When Orion has to live knowing his parents sacrificed everything for his survival. I cannot believe how stupid I am.'

She looked at Orion with worry, and apologized.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it about me."

"But it is about you, isn't it? It would be nice if you were able see your mother after all these years."

He smiled, not caring that much about what happened. There was still the hope of seeing his parents in the future just by keeping the bracelet.

"No, don't worry. Like you said, everything we've said is only speculation. We have no lead on her, and from what I remember, she got swallowed by the flames, so there is little reason to believe she is still alive."

Her mind made a full recovery, and she began to tell what she saw.

~

"So, she found out. What do you think about that? Was I wrong to believe that you would be found out?"

"Tia, shut up."

"You know I can't anymore. They completely read through your actions. Is that the first time it happened? Be real with me."

From the darkness, two women emerged once again. This time, the conversation was incredibly heavy.

There was no sign of the usual joke between them, or any playfulness from the woman named Tia.

*sigh*

"What answer are you expecting? Yes, that boy is terrifying. He managed to pinpoint my plan, even though it is just 'speculation' for him."

"Enri..."

The room that was usually completely dark, suddenly lightened lightly. From the ceiling a little orb of light shined with a small light, enough to make it able to see the room.

There was nothing in display. It was a grey cubic room, with only the table, and two chairs. What was extremely strange was that there was no doors or windows.

It was a completely sealed place.

The two women finally revealed their appearance.

One was Tia-Norun, the woman that had helped Noah in the past. With her pink hair, her pink eyes, and her incredibly large cleavage, she was unmistakably the same person as Dramia and Drania remembered.

The second woman, was Enri-Ann. Long curled blonde hair, blue eyes... there was no way around it. She was Henrietta, Amelia's mother. What was different about her was the lack of a smile on her face. She looked way more stern and stoic right now.

"It's not like they know. So it doesn't change anything for us."

Tia-Norun shook her head vigorously while spreading her arms on her sides.

"You can't say that! You've seen her reaction. She's supposed to be your daughter, so why can't you just make an exception?"

To that, Enri-Ann sighed once again, and looked at the water in the center of the table.

"Because exceptions only make it harder, and only leads to bad results."

"Wait... You've... Why haven't you told me anything about that?!"

"Because it's unnecessary to you. Just remember, if I told you not to move outside for long periods, it is for a reason."

The two women stared at the group they observed since the beginning.

"Their next battle is upon them. We simply have to look at the various changes, and prepare for the next conflict. In three months, everything will be decided."

What plans do these woman have, only them would know.