Marvia closes the window as the cold breeze sinks into her skin.

She shivers and rubs her shoulders.

Her warm blanket feels soft on her touch.

And she rushes to the fireplace where the yearling Dante slouches on the floor with full-blown attention on what is in front of him.

Marvia is now 16 years old and falls into sadness as she thinks of her husband, Conrad.

"This is trouble, Mom. I need your help. This is real trouble," Dante looks at beautiful Marvia, who had been very secretive in the past year since they arrived in the nation of Freelandia.

"Shut up, Dante! That's cheating. If you ask your mom to help you, of course, you'll win. She's a genius at this game of Booby," Trela murmured. "Besides, you invented this game, right? So shouldn't you be the best in the world at it?"

Dante bit his lips while smirking at Trela, who said the word 'Booby'.

He had brought the game of Chess to the world of Gomorrah, and it had become a hit.

They had become the sole manufacturer of the board game, and he thought it was hilarious to change the game's name to Booby.

"Well, Dante, you're already going to lose anyway.

Trela has developed her Knights well. You're checkmate in 5 moves already."

"MARVIA!" both of them complained. Then they laughed.

"The Hearthglow is here already. Trela, You and your merchant ship are going to leave soon when Dawnbloom comes, right?"

Trela stands up and hugs Marvia who she has treated like a mother since her father went missing.

"Yeah. Our trading ventures have been successful this past year. With the Soap and the Booby Game-"

Dante bursts into laughter.

The two girls look at him suspiciously.

"Ummm... Yeah, these two products were especially popular. So Trela... I'm going to miss you." Dante says. Then he whispers where Marvia can't hear, "Bitch."

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Trela, annoyed, throws the King piece at Dante.

"Oh yeah, Marvia. Didn't you know that I taught Dante the '12 Phases of Life' poem?"

"Really?" She responds with excitement. "Let me see. Come on, baby Dan-Dan. Show Mama your best recital yet."

Dante blushes in embarrassment. But Marvia's maternal harassment lets him give in as she kisses her son to annoy him.

"Okay. Okay. I'll do it. Stop it, Mom!"

Marvia sits down with Trela and Dante stands up in front of them.

"Dawnbloom, golden dawn awakens nature's bloom.

Seedwake, life sprouts from the soil, in the verdant plume."

Dante falls into his thoughts as he recites the poem, recalling the events of the year.

"During those months, which are January and February, I was on the merchant ship, with Trela, Marvia, and the crew. Captain Danka was no longer with us at the end. And I could see my mother Marvia, hold herself back, as she holds the pendant that my father, Conrad, had given her."

"The year passes quickly, doesn't it? I remember the bright blue skies and the fluffy bunny clouds in the open ocean. I had never touched any ocean back on Earth before. Not the Pacific, not the Atlantic, not the Indian, and especially not the Arctic."

"I didn't know staying on a ship for that long would make me feel like the world only as far as my eyes could see. Sometimes, I wish that was all. Just me Trela, Marvia, and the friendly crew of the ship. Just us hovering on a wooden ship. With no place to go, and no place where we have been."

"That way I wouldn't have to watch both of them cry themselves to sleep, longing for the loved ones that are beyond their reach. I'm here, right? Am I not enough? I just don't wanna see them cry anymore."

Trela leans on Marvia, and she could feel the embrace of a mother again.

"Rainshower, droplets fall, a gentle melody's shower.

Suncrest, blazing sun, empowers with its power.

Harvestwane, golden fields sway, abundance gained."

"We had arrived in Freelandia. The rains were pouring at the time, and the city of Liberty's Reach did welcome us with open arms. Trela was strong. Strong. Her father's crew was loyal and trustworthy."

"They knew Trela was different and agreed to wait with her and in the meantime help her in our merchant ventures. They sure did complain at first, but when the money came in, they came through. Finding manufacturing for the soap was hard, I didn't really how to make most of the technology from the earth."

"Like Plastic, or Penicillin. But I did know how to make soap. And my knowledge of Earth's advanced culture helped. I spent most of my money, contributing to the Holy Church of the System though."

"Even then, I still was not able to do any magic stuff. Does it require genuine belief to be able to gain access to magic powers? That's what I'd been thinking."

Dante looked closely at Marvia and Trela's kind eyes that watched him closely.

"Heatblaze, scorching heat, a fiery summer's reign.

Leafshade, colors shift, autumn's vibrant shade."

Dante remembered when the month of Leafshade came.

The city was bustling with people as they were spending most of their wealth from the harvests, and took the time to enjoy themselves before winter came.

This day was most memorable for Dante.

When the weary footsteps of a traveler echoed through the noisy streets of Liberty's Reach, like a hummingbird's beautiful song in the midst of the noise.

Someone knocked on Marvia and Dante's door.

Knock. Knock.

Marvia grabbed her scriptures and prepared herself as she opened the door.

As she pulled open the door, her eyes met the traveler. The book fell on the floor in her shock.

It was Conrad.