Alisa was taken aback; not expecting any of the words he said to be spelled in her angry face like that, she was left speechless. The revelation hit so hard that she immediately shut up and sat inside beside the door, feeling sorry.

She watched the crowded library; the chairs and tables moved to the sides and the shelves glued to each other at the back to make some space for the mattresses placed on the floor.

Mae, the little girl, waved at her with a wide smile as she was tended to by the librarian. She was happy, seeing her grandpa’s friend alive and well, but it did not take long after she calmed down that her smiles were taken over with grief and sorrow.

“Grandpa is no more”, she cried, holding on dearly to the arms of Madam Veronica.

Everyone was disregarding the “Be Quiet” sign on the librarians table and on the walls, together with the cries of pain and agony from the injury of the other citizens. It was far from a library and it turned into a makeshift hospital ward, with buckets of blood and doctors operating on the floor.

The other children of the light and the remaining order of the knights were outside, either looking for survivors or just simply defending their last refuge.

“Come here Alisa”, Alvor called, “You too, shield boy.”

Hunter wondered, “Why? Did I do something wrong?”

Alvor gave him no reply and continued walking towards Donnor. He looked pale and the bandages are doing nothing in order to help.

"Listen, youngsters. It was nice that I got to fight alongside you, though I might not live to see the outcome of things”, he weakly said, coughing while Alisa held his hand.

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“It was wonderful to watch you grow into such a fine young lady”, he scuffled her hair as Alisa started to tear up, “As for you, boy, may I know your mother’s name?”, he said, slowly turned to Hunter.

“W— why?”

“Nothing; I just need to make sure of something.”

Hunter kneeled on the other side and leaned closer, "Lilybeth, sir, and as for her last name—”

Donnor's eyes was filled of relief as he jinxed Hunter’s words, “Cromwell. Lilybeth Cromwell”, He smiled to the startled Hunter, “I had my suspicions”, He coughed, “She was a brilliant child but she wanted to do things her way, and look what she had brought to the world—a brilliant young man too.”

Tears slowly hindered Hunter’s vision. His mind was still processing the things Donnor spelled but his heart was already melting. He could not speak, his arms stuck in knees, trembling. Warmth was something that he thought he'd never feel once again ever since his mother died, but this moment made him realize that he’s wrong. Once the thought had finally reached his logic, he quickly leaned in and caged the man in an embrace.

“Sorry if I’m only telling you this now. I wish I could have at least been able to guide you even for a little bit”, Donnor added. “But with Alvor here, I think you’ll be just Fine, my grandson”, he smiled, gave Hunter a pat on the head and finally closed his eyes.

Hunter let go of all the tears he had held back ever since. He could feel his grandfather’s beating heart, his warmth, his arms gently patting his back like how his mother used to. Never in his life did he think that he’d have someone to call family once again. After a long time of navigating the dark all alone, finally, he felt that he belonged somewhere.

“What a small world”, Alisa uttered, “I know what you’re feeling but would you please stop crying. It’s not as if Uncle Donnor is going to die, Yggdrays might be considered rural because medicine had never been a problem here.”

“Sorry, I got carried away.”

As thunder began to inform everyone that it was once again awake, he sighed, stood, and then wiped his tears.

“What’s the plan now?”, he cheerfully smiled at Alisa and Alvor.

“If your fine now, then let’s review what we currently know”, Alvor whispered and both of them followed.

They had used one of the rooms of the library with permission from the librarian herself.

“I would do all I can in order to help”, Madam Veronica proudly declared as she escorted them to the room, fixing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

And moments later, their strategy meeting started.