As Wu headed to bed early, Lita dragged Lera all the way up to through the attic of their little house onto the ceiling and watches as the stars unveiled themselves overhead.

With the infinite sparkles decorating the dark curtain overhead, Lita let Lera lie on her lap and played with her hair.

"Mom, why are we up here?" Lera asked as a strand of her hair flopped onto her eyes and made her wince slightly.

"You have grown so big so quickly..." Lita laughed, "You know, when you go off to the Pinnacle Research Institute, I was preparing myself for this change..."

"What change?"

"The change in everything." Lita smiled as she slowly straights Lera's hairs and picked out the occasional silver strands with her fingers, "You changed your appearance, your personality, and you even brought a boy home."

"MOM!" Lera protested as her mother chuckled and caressed her forehead, "It's...it's not like that!"

"It's okay." Lita smiled and looked up into the night sky, "My mother was very surprised when I brought your dad home that first night too."

"It's...it's just stress relief okay?!" Lera mumbled, "I...I promised that we will talk about it once we are strong enough to save the world and stuff."

"Yeah..." Lita said slowly as the movements of her hands slowed, "So he really is the Fourth Savior? And my little girl is the Fourth Guardian? I...I just can't believe it."

"Neither could I for a little while." Lera smiled, her mind traveling back to the first day the two of them have met. In terms of the ability to wield the Wave, Wu is special in the sense that he arguably has the worst cards dealt to anybody in this world. However...everything about him...

"Lera." Lita said, her voice slightly changing in tone, "You know the stories. The Saviors and their companions all have to go through hell to overcome whatever challenges that will come their way. Make sure to rely on him, as much as he relies on you. You need to help each other constantly, and be in each other's corners no matter what."

Lera nodded slowly as a cheeky smile floated up Lita's face again.

"Plus, you two have been in each other's corners more than most Savior/Guardian combos."

"MOM?!" Lera screamed and covered her face in embarrassment.

"Whatever happens...just know this." Lita giggled and finished straightening Lera's hair strands, "I am proud of you, always."

Lera looked through the gaps between her fingers, and she nodded slowly, "I love you."

That night, Lera made sure to keep her hands off Wu, but he's so steadily asleep that nothing really happened. Things did seem to have returned to normal, and it wasn't long before Lera came for his half of the blanket again.

The next day, the two of them said their goodbyes to Lita and departed for Sonne, ready to take on the next steps of their journey.

In the meanwhile in the territory governed by the Vaughan family within the North-Western part of the Ethereal Realm, a hooded traveler stepped off the carriage pulled by Wavehorses and headed into the city bathed in the morning fog as per usual.

The fortress city of Vaughan has established hundreds of years ago, and it was taken over by the Vaughan family years after its establishment. Located on the halfway of a mountain, it's also referred to as the Fog City, due to the local weather patterns enveloping the city in a fog all throughout the year apart from a handful of days in the summer.

The mansion that Ver grew up in sits near the center of the city further uphill, and as she walked the familiar yet distant paths of the city, she couldn't help but feel a slight sense of dread.

None of it is rational, yet, the ghosts of her past still lingered over her mind. Ben...Her mother...her father...

As the towering silhouette of the Vaughan family mansion presented itself through the fog, Ver activated her identity Cast and stepped through the outer shields. The guards at the front gate didn't quite recognize Ver, but the Vaughan family is so big at this point that it's borderline impossible to memorize everyone's names.

Plus, it has also been years since Ver departed from the mansion.

An echo of pain pulsed from her right eye, but Ver wondered if that's just a psychological response from returning home. The outlines of the mansion looked exactly the same, and the disproportionate room sizes were exactly as before.

Scattering of cleaners swept the gardens and paths when Ver walked past them, though none of them looked familiar either.

Her heart sank slightly at the strange sights, though she stilled her thoughts before pushing open the mansion doors that were designated to the side branches of the family, which is the branch that belonged to her and her mother.

The corridors were cleanly as usual, and a faint aroma of flowers filled the air. Ver glanced around to make sure she isn't noticed before letting her memories take over. Strolling through the corridors, she navigated to the room designated for her mother, as the name of 'Fulgen' was written onto the door of the room.

Ver's heart raced, and she put a hand up when suddenly, she heard something drop onto the ground beside her.

Ver turned slowly, and her aged mother covered her mouth in shock as tears started welling in her eyes.

"Hey mom." Ver said, waving with a confident smile, "I have returned."

Her mother slowly stepped towards her, and that's when Ver saw the wrinkles on her face and the grey in her hair. She reached out with her calloused fingers and slowly felt for the outlines of Ver's face as she closed her eyes.

"Ver..." She said, her voice low and shaking, "Ver...it really is you..."

"It's me," Ver said, hugging her mother close as the latter cried in the hug.

"I am so sorry for sending you away..." She cried and feeling for Ver's muscular back with her fingers, "I thought that was the right thing to do...I didn't even..."

"It's okay now." Ver said, pulling back slightly and smiling, "I have got the Token."

Her mother's body slightly tensed up, and she pulled back with tears still streaming down her face, "The...Token?"

"Yeah." Ver said, "Where's the head of the house?"

Her mother's eyebrows raised at the remark, as Ver had elected to refer to his father by his position, "He's in his room, but he's..."

Her eyes looked down, and she hesitated to say the whole truth, "He's not doing well..."

"What do you mean."

Rushing into the rooms of Ver's father, the once glorious head of one of the forty ruling families of the Vaughan family now lied quietly on his deathbed.

His sharp gaze locked onto Ver, and despite his looks, a voice of power still came through, "Who are you?"

"I bet you won't even recognize me!" Ver said angrily, ripping away her eye patch and revealing the dark eight-legged pattern over her right eye. The Mark of Manifestation glowed and followed her surge in emotions.

"...Ver Fulgen?" He said, his eyes widened, "What are you doing here..."

"What am I doing here?!" Ver took a step forward, moving past the maids that are taking care of the Head, "I am here because I belong here!"

"No you don't..." He said before being interrupted by the cough, "The Vaughan family needs no weaklings..."

"I am no longer weak!" Ver said, slamming to proof of her Token onto the bed, "Look at yourself!"

He glanced down at the Token briefly before turning his gaze back to Ver, his expression still like a statue yet she still caught the surprise in his tone, "Like I said...the Vaughan family needs no weaklings."

That was when Ver finally took a good look at her father. His skin had dark patches all over, and he had lost all of his hair. The dark patches don't look to be from any sort of naturally occurring disease, and Ver turned to look at her mother, expecting an answer.

"An assassin from a rival family snuck into the Head's office one day and injured him gravely..." Her mother said slowly, "It's the poison-using Grega family."

"And he fell to that?!" Ver turned sharply,

"Ver..." He said, forcing himself to sit up, "The Grega's have been preparing for war ever since the last tournament. They intend to take over our territory after the next."

"And why should I care?" Ver asked.

"You hated your time here, right?" He said, an understanding smile on his face, "If you want change. Do it with your own power. Take over, win the tournament, and write your own rules for the families."

There he goes again, manipulating everything in her life.

"I don't care."

"Yes, you do."

Ver looked at him with the utmost malice, and she yanked away the Token from his bed before marching out from the room. As she walked away, her father smiled and leaned back.

"Ver!" Her mother chased out from his room, "What...where are you going now?"

Without looking back, she simply waved her hand in the air.

"I swear, mother. I will win the next Ethereal tournament, and I will free you from this hell." Ver said as her mother stood still in the hallway.

"Ver!" Her mother ran behind her and held onto her wrist, "...You don't have to throw away your life just for me..."

"No. It's not just for you." Ver said, turning around slowly, "It's for all of the me's all across this stupid realm. This stupid tournament needs to end, and...I will become strong enough to do it."

"...where are you going then?"

Ver looked down at the scrunched-up paper in her hand and thought to the words of Kaire.

"The Infinite Academy."