"I come here to find answers. Where is my father now? Did he leave us? Or can he not return for some reason? Is he the same hero figure I once admired, or is he just another bastard? I will rush in to find out no matter what because I have always prepared both physically and mentally for the worst that could happen, but this is just unbearable." – Nea got some deep thought while falling.

Nea has indeed prepared for the worst to come. The most suitable word to describe him would be pessimistic. He might laugh or joke when his friends are around; however, Nea is silent and dreamy and keeps everything to himself when alone. Part of this was because of his missing father, claiming that he is just too curious in some way—interested in the truth. Nea wanted to know how this world worked, and he concluded that people only be friendly to each other as long as they have some profit. They are also ready to stab each other's back if those conditions are not met. So the boy often imagines the worst possible situations and prepares himself mentally for them. Nea is just 16 years old and hasn't encountered much; he's still just a naive boy who has never experienced this, and even if he has, this situation is too difficult to predict. This is the first time he is too trusting and still falling freely.

The fall felt like centuries, but it was just less than a minute; Nea finally saw a spark of light.

"Ah! Light! Am I dead already? People always said they would see the light of heaven when they die, so maybe this is true." – Nea thought. He covered his eyes as the light shone brighter.

A few seconds later, Nea felt like he was grabbed by something. He turned his head to see that the waitress had pushed him down the hole. She was holding him like a cat. Putting Nea down slowly, she asked:

* Are you alright? Sorry for scaring you. It was an emergency situation.

Nea sat there with a confusing look in his eyes. She was just so stunning and scary at the same time. We had just met, and she had already given him a heart attack. But beauty is a woman's weapon, and Nea couldn't do anything in front of this beautiful woman.

* There you go again, Liana!

A voice was coming out of nowhere. A husky male voice but also familiar with Nea:

"It is him, the person who stood under the rain that day. He is no ghost, or maybe I am!".

While observing the man, Nea realized the opposite of his sloppy outfit was his solemn manner. Nea could feel an invisible pressure from this man. He spoke to Nea:

* Hello Nea, my name is Gray. Sorry about what just happened. I hope you still have yet to see us with an aversion.

Gray lighted his cigarette and turned to the girl:

* Liana, could you please stop doing that to new people?

* Ufufufu. Sorry, chief. It was an emergency. I have to leave now.

She hid her smile and left. She was very fond of doing this. Gray groused:

* This girl...

Nea was slowly gaining his mind back, although he was still shaking as he stood up. He asked:

* Am I dead?

* No, unfortunately, you are still alive.

Nea tried to look up at the black tunnel where he just fell from:

"I should be dead falling from a height like this, but I'm still fine somehow?"

Nea glanced at the shade of the girl who had disappeared behind the door. She was still okay. He was sure there was no other way to get down here except falling from that tunnel, yet she landed there, safe and sound, like it was nothing. Gray saw the confusion on Nea's face and calmly said:

* Please take a deep breath; I will answer every question you have.

* My father?

* Now, hold on; we will get to that part eventually. Be patient. Now let's have a chat first.

Nea followed Gray as they walked into a vast room as big as a stadium under the ground. Nea also saw the tunnel that he just fell from was gradually closing. Gray said:

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

* This is the training room, and that hole where you just fell is one of the secret entrances to this place. Usually, we use elevators, but Liana uses them sparingly.

Mention her now is giving Nea a chill in his pike:

* Is this a facility of Miyazaki Corp?

* Oh, No. We are not a part of any corporation. We are an independent organization, a separate branch of the Vatica Congregation, and our job is to protect this planet.

* Protect the planet? Earth?

* From destruction, yes.

Nea had to repeat it to ensure he had heard it correctly. He was just so confused; everything happened like he was in a movie, but he did not know the script. Nea falteringly:

* What about my father?

* He was one of our most important members.

Waaa!!

That was precisely what Nea was seeking. The answer he wanted to hear. The truth about his father is still a hero but not a wrong person who left his family ten years ago. Feeling relieved from the answer, Nea asked another question:

* Where is he now?

Gray smoked a deep breath and silently kept walking. Nea followed him to another room. This room was different from the training room before. People in this room wore white lab coats; some wore protective gear, and some wore regular clothes. Suddenly a woman dashed out of a room. She accidentally hit another person and started apologizing repeatedly; Surprisingly, the guy said nothing back; he had a terrifying look on his face instead. Gray called out to the woman:

* Blue, what is so hurry?

* Rain!

She just said that one word and turned silent again. Her voice and body were shaking like she was about to cry.

"Rain? In here?" - Nea thought.

Gray talked to Blue:

* Oh, Rain! I am also looking for him. Could you please bring him here to me? You two should not stay too far away from each other, right?

She just nodded and ran away. Everyone looked at her with a slight of worried. Nea was profoundly interested in watching people's eyes to discover what was in their minds. The boy also fixed his curious eyes on the strange girl until she disappeared into a dark corner.

Nea followed Gray to the big room. The ambiance felt busier. The first impression was a circular stoned ring at the end of the room. It is about 10 feet tall with a runic carved on the side. The way it looks makes you imagine it as a magical gate in the movies if not many electric wires covered it. Nea noticed that a few parts of the gate were made of metal to link the stone parts. Nea muttered:

* It looks like a giant gate!

* A space gate, indeed.

Gray added detail and looked at Nea's surprised expression before continuing to speak:

* Your father is behind that gate. He is on another Earth different from ours. He is on a secret mission that may affect humanity's fate. No, even the entire universe.

Nea was happy when he knew his father was a great person, but the whole universe's fate depended on his father's shoulder, something he didn't even think of. Gray explained:

* Nea, you are Finix's son, so we have noticed you for a long time. You are a curious and quite reasonable boy, so you might understand what I am about to say. You may already know about the Bigbang Theory...

There was two all-mighty existence from the primordial time of the universe, The Creator and The Destroyer. The Creator is also known to men as the one and only God; he created stars, planets, and all kinds of lives. On the other hand, The Destroyer always tried to destroy God's creations, resulting in a great war between them. After thousands of millenniums, God had won against the force of destruction. Unfortunately, destruction itself can not be destroyed. God had no choice but to seal his indestructible enemy in the center of the planet, Earth. The Seal lay in an apple, also known as the fruit of wisdom, hidden in the Garden of Eden. Two immortals, Adam and Eve, were created as protectors. But one day, Eve was tricked into releasing the Evil entity. Luckily, the Seal didn't disappear, but it was transferred into Eve's body, turning her into an average person but enduring colossal power. The Seal has been passed for generations till now.

But that's just a part of the story. Nonetheless, two things happened separately in that crucial moment: first, the malice creature tricked Eve into breaking the Seal. And second, as I told you, Adam's other version successfully stopped Eve from breaking it. The timeline started to splitting from that moment. On Earth, the Seal was still intact, and an organization was built to protect the Seal. It was later known as Vatica Congregation. We are also created to protect the Seal, but on another parallel earth, where the Seal has been compromised and becomes fragile from time to time.

Nea stood still to listen to Gray's story, with a thousand new questions in his mind, but only one at the top. Nea asked:

* Who is my father?

* Your father was one of those who built this organization from the ground.