White dust began to swirl around the giant white snake and he faded away. Zero soon awakened and groggily asked, “Where did the big snake go?” as he was helped to his feet by Valna.

Hel chuckled and said, “That was my brother and he’s got a job to finish. Rather I need to explain the current situation to you so listen up.”

Hel then told Zero the information she had received from her brothers about the investigation. She further elaborated that their timeline was not set so the faster they left this world the better. Zero listened and mentally connected with Valna to ask if they left out anything just in case to which she responded no.

“Okay, I understand we need to leave as soon as Jormungandr returns. I’m curious about something.” said Zero as he tried to open a dimensional tear but found he couldn't

“Rest my liege and leave this to me.” said Valna who summon a white flame that engulfed the 4 and vanished leaving nothing behind not even singe marks

The white flame reappeared in the hotel pool area before vanishing and leaving Zero and the others unharmed. Hel then grabbed Fenrir by the collar and said, “Jormungandr will return by tomorrow morning so I suggest you use this time to gather the others and inform them that we’ll be leaving soon. We’ll go over the specifics tomorrow morning it’s the evening so I’ll go shower and show my brother around.”

“Ah I almost forgot to give you this.” said Hel as she tossed the soul crystal to Zero who caught it and put it into his pocket

With Hel and Fenrir gone Zero was left alone with Valna. When he tried to take a step he was hit with a sudden bout of dizziness and almost fell over but he was caught by Valna who held him up and hugged him. She then asked, “Will you be keeping your promise to give me a child now?”

Zero chuckled and retorted, “Normally I’d say something witty but I’m too tired right now. I don’t have the strength or energy to fulfill that promise right now so maybe another time. I’ll go see Yoko now do me a favor go to Meath and call the others over.”

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When she felt that Zero was now able to stand on his own 2 feet Valna released him. Without saying any words she nodded and vanished in her flames. Zero stumbled to the elevator and took it to the lobby. He walked to the front desk and noticed a vampire working it but decided to put aside his curiosity and ask, “Is Yoko here?”

“No Lady Belnades left 10 minutes ago to pick up young miss Nova from school. They should return shortly.” answered the front desk vampire

“Okay inform them that I’m looking for them when they arrive. I’ll be taking a nap over there so wake me when they get here.” said Zero who walked over to a couch and collapsed

Although Zero looked as if he were sleeping he was rather in a state of being where his body basically shut down to focus on mending itself. In this state, he was vulnerable because even his senses were turned off and anyone could easily apporch him without him realizing this. This went a long way to show that he had come to consider Hikaru’s hotel as a safe enough place.

After 20 minutes Zero was approached by the front desk vampire who called his name but received no response so she tried to shake him awake but he woke up the instant she touched him. Zero woke up feeling better but still felt a dull sensation of pain in the areas Fenrir bit off.

Zero rubbed his face and looked to his right to see the vampire walking back to her desk revealing Yoko sitting in the seat to his right. She frowned when she saw him and said, “You look like crap. The last time I saw you look this bad was right after Sophia. Did you win?”

Zero weakly smiled and said, “Yeah I did but just barely and they held back. Anyways I called you over here to tell you some news.” to which Yoko quickly asked, “Good or bad?”

Zero then sighed before answering, “Bad I found out that heaven will be sending an investigation team to find out what happened to Sophia. They’ll be here soon so we need to leave and I was wondering…” but before he could finish he was cut off by Yoko who said, “No!”

“I haven’t even finished yet.” said a confused Zero

Yoko then went on to explain, “I know what you want to ask. You want me to break the news to Nova right? Well, the answer is no you go tell. She’s in my room she came with her friends today because she wanted to show them her little brother. Be a man and break the bad news to the kid. I’ve got 2 things I need to finish by today so I’ll leave Nova and Avarus with you tonight. You promised to spend more time with her so man up and keep your word.”

Zero groaned because Yoko had guessed his intentions perfectly. He didn’t know how to break the news to the girl and was worried about how to do so. He had hoped that Yoko would take on this burden but she crushed his hope before he could even ask. Yoko saw that he had nothing to say back so she stood up and created a magical sigil opening a gateway to the tower in Meath.

‘She could at least be a bit more understanding.’

“Word of advice she may cry so be sure to comfort her and assure her that everything will be okay. This is the only place she’s known so she’ll be very attached to this place. You need to be very clear on how this will affect her life from now or she’ll resent you.” said Yoko before she walked through her gateway

Zero stood up and headed to Yoko’s room after she left and closed her gateway. When he arrived at the door he could hear hushed voices of Nova, 2 girls, and a boy which he frowned upon hearing. Zero entered the room to find the 3 girls surrounding the bed his son was sleeping on and the boy was sitting on the couch a few feet away.

Nova stood up and ran to hug Zero who just entered the room. She nuzzle his leg as she said, “Papa I missed you so much.”

Zero patted her head and said, “I missed you too how have you been?”