"Is Orion here?!"

A voice echoed inside the caves of the dragons' nest, seemingly approaching Orion.

"That voice... Drania?"

Florian and Orion both turned around while Monolavir and Ruminona looked toward the entrance to their nest.

They all waited until a fairy rapidly flew through the opening and abruptly stopped, haphazardly looking in all directions until her eyes fell on the man she was looking for.

"O-Orion!"

In the blink of an eye, she flew toward toward him and stopped. She grabbed his shirt, and with sweat dripping from her face, she hurriedly explained to him the situation.

"Please! Come with me! The fairy realm is in danger! My sister is..."

"..."

'It's unusual for Drania to be this panicked. Something happened to Tiohr-nam?'

His expression turned serious.

'I... closed the portal to Horizon. I messed up.'

Realizing his mistake, he placed his hand on her head and hurriedly opened the portal.

"Monolavir, as you've heard, I need to leave."

"Hmm."

The huge dragon closed its eyes and acknowledged the urgency.

"Florian, I'll leave you to your plans. Either rest in Horizon, or return ho-"

The ex-Apostle adjusted his glasses, and with a stern expression, spoke frankly.

"I'm coming with you. Kamala's in the fairy realm, I can't ignore that."

Orion stared at him for a second, before nodding.

"Alright. Drania."

He crouched and picked up his lover without waiting.

"I'm sorry. I made you travel all this way because of my mistakes. Let's hurry."

With a nod, she closed her eyes and began to rest as Orion and Florian hurriedly walked through the portal to Horizon. They immediately ran toward the portal leading to the fairy realm.

...

"Kamala!"

Dramia screamed her name for the tenth time, but the woman kept silent.

She had lost consciousness while holding the whirlwind barrier around the village. Her body had been completely drowned in sand, with only her face being partially exposed.

Stella was still holding Kamala's sleeve even though her arm had completely been engulfed by the falling sand. The little girl hadn't realized it, that her holding Kamala was the reason for this change.

Not knowing what to do, Stella was beginning to cry. The situation was a little too difficult for her to remain calm.

'Papa...'

In her heart, she hoped that Orion was here.

*CRASH*

A column of water broke through the shield and crashed on the ground below.

"Kh! Even though she's been holding on, it's not enough!"

Biting her lower lip, Dramia knew that she wouldn't be able to wake Kamala like this. She looked at the water accumulating inside the village, and felt despair creep in her heart.

"..."

She looked at Kamala, who was slowly beginning to disappear into the sand, and at Stella, who looked completely lost and panicked.

'What am I doing... Is this how I'm supposed to act?'

Trying to rid her heart of that feeling, she began to rile herself up.

'I... Am I not strong enough to do something? After speaking those words to Tiohr?'

Suddenly, a gleam appeared in her eyes. She clenched her teeth and slapped her own face.

*SLAP*

Stella looked at Dramia with horror, thinking that something had happened to her, but she realized quickly that her expression had changed.

A thin trail of blood slipped through the corner of Dramia's lips, as she began to smile.

"Watch me, Noah. Today, I'll be just like you!"

Fast winds began to surround her arms. After lifting her arms above her head, she turned her head toward Kamala.

"I'll join you. Let's make this shield of yours stronger."

She released her magic all other the place, and began to cover the holes that started to leak water inside the village.

'But when is this wave going to settle? This is a terrible amount of water.'

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Her thoughts began to leak from her mouth.

"I can't even see the sky anymore."

The whole island the fairy lived on was completely under the waves.

...

"What a mess."

Florian looked through the opened window Dramia flew through earlier and saw the whirlwind shield protecting the place.

This was his first time inside the realm, yet he had no time to enjoy the sights.

"Tiohr-nam. What face are you making?"

Orion walked in front of her and sat Drania on a chair, making sure she wouldn't fall off.

"Orion... so you have come. Drania made it in time."

"..."

An awkward silence happened between them.

"It's unusual for you to be lacking enthusiasm."

The Avatar remained its eyes closed.

"This whole situation is because of me. I could not restore my roots in time to avoid our doom."

Florian kept looking outside.

'Kamala.'

The magic signature coming out of the shield was the exact same as hers, which made him smile.

'She's exactly like me. She will sacrifice herself to accomplish her own goals.'

His smile died down, revealing a terrifying expression. His eyes gleamed dangerously.

'That's why, I can't have you die on me now. I would never forgive myself otherwise.'

Tiohr-nam finished explaining the situation to Orion.

"I see. The plate dropped, which made the whole island sink into the sea..."

In deep thoughts, Orion nodded.

"Can't we do something about your roots?"

Her Avatar shook its head.

"It is too late. The whole village is doomed."

"..."

Orion glared at her.

"What? Let me-"

"Give me the reason. Why did you not call my name?"

He slammed his right fist on his chest.

"We have a bond. A soul bond. Why did you not tell me? Why couldn't you rely on me before it came to this point?"

"..."

She remained silent.

"Let me guess. You didn't want me to do something that would cause damage to my soul."

Her right eyebrow twitched.

'That's part of the reason... She's hiding something else.'

He observed her reaction carefully. From time to time, she glanced toward Drania, who was sleeping on the chair.

'Don't tell me...'

"You... you were hoping to make these two leave the realm? So you can die alone?"

The Avatar opened its eyes wide, revealing the symbol that made her Remnant, the leaf.

"Seems like I've managed to find your reason."

"How...?"

"You're a mother, aren't you? Florian, follow me. Let's get this mess sorted."

"Sure."

They both walked toward the door, and just as Orion was about to exit.

"What are you going to do?!"

Tiohr-nam stopped him. He turned around, and with a smirk, answered.

"Keep your roots close to you, or you might lose them."

He opened the door and walked out with Florian behind him. When the door closed, Tiohr-nam sighed.

"..."

"Are you not angry at me?"

Tiohr-nam looked at Drania.

"I don't have to. If Orion wasn't, I won't either. But sis is another story altogether."

Drania stood up and stretched her body. She wiped the sweat of her face off and turned around.

"You should do as he told you... and make sure he doesn't go overboard. I won't forgive you if something happens to him."

The Avatar nodded, knowing what the fairy meant.

"I will."

The two waited in silence for anything to happen. Be it the end, or anything else.

...

"Hey... look."

"Isn't that?"

"Yes, it's the guy who came here last time with that little girl."

"The one who went to the undergrounds?"

"The same."

Orion walked into the hall of the mansion, on the upper floor. He walked down the stairs while looking at the fairies packed inside the large hall.

They were gossiping quietly, intrigued to see the man himself back in their realm. If there was something to say about him, it was that the fairies liked him quite a lot after he saved their creator and mother, Tiohr-nam.

"Is he here to do something about the wave?"

"I hope so."

His ears picked up every single words they said. It was only after hearing a child fairy speak that his mood became slightly worse.

"Mama, are we going to lose our home? Where are we going to live from now on?"

"I'm sorry... I don't know. But mom and dad will be with you."

'A child? In the fairy realm? I thought Tiohr-nam created adults only? Wait... are they the parents?'

He stopped before leaving the last step and looked at the family, before looking around. His eyes rapidly scanned the room, noticing many more families that weren't a thing the last time he was here.

'The fairy faction has a fast growth rate it seems.'

Various children were anxiously hugged by their parents. Orion felt his heart sank, thinking about them losing their home.

But he internally shook his head.

"Orion. Are you alright? You've been spacing out for a second."

"I'm fine."

Putting his feelings behind him, he dropped his foot on the floor and walked off the stair. The fairies made ways for him and Florian as much as they possibly could, and watched him with hope.

*CRIIIII*

The large doors opened, revealing the incredible scene happening in the distance.

Both Orion and Florian opened their eyes wide.

"This... is more than I thought."

Florian especially, looked shocked. He hadn't realized that the shield was protecting all sides, and that water was also trying to enter from above.

They continued forward and walked out. Orion looked left and right, before catching sight of who he was looking for.

"You're lucky it is my specialty! But for fuck's sake! When are you going to wake up!"

With frantic movements, Dramia was using her magic to plug every holes appearing on the shield. She successfully managed to plug every single one of them, but at a cost.

She was expanding her magic energy at a very fast pace, and she was near her limit.

Her body was flushed from moving too much, and sweat poured from her pores profusely. Each time she moved her hands toward a hole, beads of sweat flew in that direction from her fingers.

Not realizing that Orion had arrived, she kept pushing on.

'She's smiling.'

This was the first time Orion saw Dramia smile like this. It made his heart tingle a little bit.

"Dramia."

Both Stella and Dramia looked turned their faces toward the voice they immediately recognized. The surprise on their faces was soon replaced by relief, but Dramia immediately focused back on plugging the holes with her wind magic.

"Orion... I'm glad to see you. I don't know what to do to save the village at this point."

She plugged two holes at once, and immediately turned to plug another. At this point, she was beginning to pant.

"Papa!"

Stella wanted to run toward Orion, but she couldn't free her arm from the sand around Kamala. When he noticed the spiraling galaxy in her eyes, he understood.

"Florian, that mass of sand. Kamala's inside."

"Eh? Are you... No, you're not the type to joke in this kind of situation. Do you know what happened?"

Orion glanced at him and nodded.

"She's close to recovering her power. She was the youngest human to use the linked elemental mastery, but she was unable to use it until now."

With a frown, Florian thought.

'How do you know that?'

"When the moment is right, you should ask her about her past. Of course, if she doesn't want to tell you, then I won't be able to help."

'Heh... read through me like a book.'

He smiled while nodding.

"I'll do that later. Let's do what we can first."

Hurriedly, he ran toward the pile of sand.

"Kamala! Can you hear me?!"

After placing his hands on the stream of sand, he noticed his hands staying on top of it. They weren't sinking into the sand.

While he kept trying to get her out of that state, Orion walked behind Stella, patted her head, and then moved behind Dramia.

"I'll go thank Drania after that. She worked hard to get you here on time, you know?"

"It was my fault. I shouldn't have locked the portal behind me. Though, something happening inside the fairy realm was not an event I had planned to deal with today."

"Me neither."

She turned her face and showed a bright smile that made his heart skip a beat.

'I guess I'll do my best to.'

He smiled before approaching his face to her right ear.

"..."

"Huh? You can't be serious? Are you for real..."

"I am."

Orion nodded. The next thing he did was the release of a tremendous amount of magic, similar to the amount he released in his fight against Elliott.

'Don't lose control...'

While Orion prepared himself, Kamala was fighting the ghost of her mother, and herself inside her mind.