A white expense that extended everywhere, a sky so very strange yet mystic in some ways, with nothing other than a single house and one being built.

He saw in the distance the two women walking toward the house, so he knew were to go. Catching up was his only goal right now.

'Did I die?'

Sirius imagined this place as being the afterlife.

'No.'

He felt the vivid pain in his leg, and the knot in his stomach, reminding him of the hard reality.

Quietly, without making himself noticed, he followed them, while limping.

...

'What a big house.'

Being pretty old, and having seen multiple families so far, this was a first for him.

"Amelia! I'm back!"

Hearing the loud echoing voice of Karteira, his thoughts focused back on her and the lamia.

"Don't shout, what if Orion comes downstairs?!"

Amelia walked out of the dining room and into the corridor with a small saucer in her hand, half full of a brown liquid.

As she just stated, Orion was talking with the sisters upstairs until everything was ready. If he noticed Deveralna, the surprise would be less effective.

"Welcome back. Here try this, tell me how it tastes for you."

After handing the plate to Karteira who instantly gulped the content of the saucer without a care, she looked at the lamia who didn't knew where to look.

"I see. It is exactly as Orion described. No wonder he took a liking to you. I'm Amelia, Orion's companion."

She placed her hand on her chest while introducing herself. While taking a good look at her, she nodded.

"Someone that noticed his qualities, and complimented him. Can we be friends?"

Going straight to the point, she looked at Deveralna, waiting for her answer.

Deveralna was a little confused, not because she was lamia royalty, but because she wasn't expecting such a fast development.

"Is that alright? You don't hate humans, right? I had forgotten for an instant."

But she shook her head. She noticed through Amelia's strained smile that she really did mean it when she asked her.

"It would be my pleasure. I am Deveralna."

How could she refuse?

"Well then, please come in. I wouldn't want a guest to stay at the front door forever."

"It's not salty enough."

Karteira ended over the saucer to Amelia, before going upstairs to change her clothes.

One Karteira disappeared from her sight, Deveralna entered the dining room and sat on one of the chairs.

Seeing everything from one of the windows, Sirius watched the whole thing. Amelia made Deveralna some tea and shared a few cookies she baked earlier with her.

After some times, Karteira returned and they exchanged a few stories until they went to the living room. It was about time to call Orion.

"I'll go tell the main character everything's ready. Don't tense up too much."

With a grin, Amelia walked upstairs to notify Orion that he could come down. She had hit right in the target, since Deveralna was fidgeting like crazy thinking of her meeting with Orion so soon.

'What is all of this? What are they doing?'

Confused, Sirius tilted his head. Until a certain man entered the living room with two green haired girls.

For a second, Sirius forgot to breathe. Something inside him told him that this man was the answer to his problem. The light in his eyes was somewhat similar to his own.

'I need to tell him! This man needs to know!'

While trying to find a way to get in, Sirius ran a little too fast and pushed on his injured leg, letting out a bark for everyone to hear.

"WOOF! (It hurt!)"

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He fumbled a little, ending right in front of the front door.

"Did we... ever got a dog?"

Hearing the slightly irritated voice of the man, Sirius tensed up.

"Ha-Haha... I might have forgotten to close the portal in Lahro..."

A nervous laugh escaped Karteira's mouth right after.

"It might be a stray, we don't have any dogs as lamias."

While the lamia sounded a little shook by the sudden change in the mood.

'I might have messed up...'

But he had only his life to lose. There was nothing stopping Sirius right now. If he could save a few people before dying, he would do it again.

"Great. I'll go take a look."

Sounding angry, the man opened the door slowly.

'I have to do it!'

Sirius jumped at the front door, not realizing that he would push down Orion at the same time.

Orion fell down on his back, with the big dirty white dog on top of him.

'Listen to me! I have something to tell you!'

To catch his attention, he began to lick Orion's face relentlessly.

"Stop! Stop that!"

"What in the world are you doing here!"

-

'That was my first meeting with Master.'

'After that, he took me in as a member of his own family. He gave me a name, a real one. Fed me, gave me a home, toys that I never had before, healed my broken body, and helped me be healthy again.'

'And most of all.'

-

"About Florian, he went to conquer the two cities previously belonging to those Apostles."

Orion said while explaining to everyone what he knew.

"Then he might find the few girls that were captured and haven't been found yet. I hope it won't be too late though."

Deveralna said while looking down, frustrated.

-

'They were already working on saving these poor lamias. That's my Master and his friends!'

He wagged his tail left and right, mopping it on the rocky path in front of the house.

*Clack*

Sirius turned around and looked at the front door.

"Are you sure we can leave just like that?"

Henrietta asked Tetra, who walked outside nonchalantly.

"We're not on house arrest. Stop being a scaredy cat, how old are you? Let's go, we have an old friend to greet."

'Hmm... She's right. I don't have to say anything to them. I'll let them do whatever they want, for now.'

Ignoring the two women, Sirius continued to gaze at the portal hub in the distance.

"Oh! Isn't that Orion's dog!"

Before he could understand anything, pink hairs entered his vision, while feeling a gentle rub on his neck.

"Hyaa! So cute! Ah~ I love that feeling!"

Tetra hurriedly jumped at him and rubbed her left cheek on the dog.

"I had forgotten, you love dogs."

Not particularly bothered by her friend's cries of ecstasy touching a dog after so long, she also joined her.

'Hmm~ Not bad. But not as good as Master's petting. But still, it feels great.'

Unconsciously, his tail began wagging again.

"Alright, let's go see Tiohr. Wanna come, doggy?"

"I don't think he will, Orion told him to guard... Stella? I think it was her name."

"Harf."

Sirius made a sound similar to an agreement.

"This dog's smart, he told you you were right. Alright, keep the little lady safe, we'll return once our business is done with that tree."

Tetra pointed at Horizon's Tree of Life, which Sirius quietly glanced at.

Without much of a thought, he laid down on the path, and fell asleep.

"Hahaha~ he doesn't care."

"Isn't that a sign that he trust us enough to let us roam around?"

"If that's true, then thank you. We won't take long, promise."

Both Tetra and Henrietta walked away, leaving Sirius to his nap.

...

"I knew I wasn't seeing wrong... you two were still alive."

A melancholic smile formed on Tiohr-nam's Avatar face.

"Hey, old friend. We've made you worry a bit too much, didn't we?"

Tetra, who was the one always visiting the tree of life in its past lives, shared the same smile. These two were friends, even though they never openly said it in the past.

It is only when you lose something that you understand its value, and this was one of those cases.

"Enri-Ann too. It has been so long. I was doubtful about your survival, but I guess it was unnecessary."

"As you can see."

They both got closer to the massive tree. As they approached, multiple roots emerged out of the dirt, and intertwined each other in the shape of two seats.

Without hesitation, Tetra sat on the right one, and Henrietta on the left one. Once comfortably sat, the roots emerged again, lifting the seats at the Avatar's level.

"I guess we have a lot to say to each other, right?"

"More or less."

"But first..."

Both women sitting bowed in front of Tiohr-nam.

"We're sorry. We couldn't help you when you were in danger."

...

After apologizing, they explained everything to her. Their respective powers they kept hidden, the many loops Henrietta went through, and that Orion was their last hope against Miasma.

They also told her about the old civilization, Elliott, and the Valkyries. In the end, they had to speak about the entities that killed their mothers and stole their form.

"That is quite a lot to swallow."

Tiohr-nam's Avatar stopped responding a long time ago, as the tree itself spoke to them at one point.

"I know, but all of this is the truth. We had no way to know for sure if this place was safe for us, so we stayed hidden in a sealed room of the Talviera Mountain Range."

Henrietta revealed everything. She was done keeping secrets.

"What I find incredible is that you really went and gave birth to a child. How did you manage to remain unnoticed if you were scared of going outside?"

"Well..."

*Snap*

After snapping her fingers, a pillar of water erupted on the ground below, transforming into a humanoid shape.

Not long after, a blonde woman with a warm smile on her face stood there. It remained still as if it required orders to move.

"That's how. It wasn't me who went outside. I had to control the magic, so I still lived everything as if I was there, that's why I couldn't help but wish a good life for Amelia."

"You might have felt tremendous guilt using her, isn't it? She's a sweet child."

Henrietta nodded.

"You have no idea. I have seen her lose hope so many times... yet, she always, always, without failing, fall in love with Orion. I was unable to break this bond even with my power. She was always hopeful even in the worst of moments, even when everything was pointing to their demise."

"She is his main pillar. Without her, Orion never went far."

Tiohr-nam understood. She was also a mother, and one of her own child was Orion's partner too.

"Alright, we should stop the depressing topics and continue on a more relaxing path. Forget about Orion, what are WE going to do?"

Tetra pointed at herself and the two other Remnants.

"Nothing for now."

With a stern expression, Henrietta said.

"Concerning Orion, we won't help. It would only cause him problems, and risk having either Miasma or those things noticing us."

Her expression softened a little after that.

"I think we've done enough. Don't you two agree with me?"

They both remained quiet, but they understood what she said.

"It's out of our league."

The seats lowered back to the ground.

"..."

Silence only remained.

Without even a goodbye, both Henrietta and Tetra returned to the house.

An hour later, Orion returned with everyone, plus Olivia.

It was time to prepare for their next journey.