The horrible sight filled every survivor with a great feeling of dread- The once towering buildings of the once prosperous city had toppled down into piles of rubble, as the greedy, flickering flames surrounding the decimated infrastructures and spread throughout the ruined rubble like an endless sea of crimson.

The otherworlders were merciless with their attacks- they did not bother to differentiate between combatants and civilians, as they blindly unleashed destruction everywhere they went without a single care in the world, leaving a great many corpses in their march as their forces marched triumphantly upon the bloodstained grounds.

Fortunately, the invasion had temporarily been managed to be quelled- the arrival of armed soldiers from the Nation's Guard had successfully managed to obtain victory from the jaws of defeat and drive away the invaders from the ruined city... At least for now.

Among the surviving civilians however, there was one among them whose entire life had quickly come crashing down to the ground- the sight before her had shattered both her soul as well as her will to live. In fact, it would have been better for her to have perished along with all the countless others.

In one of the desolate corners of the city, a lone, nameless mother bawled her eyes out in grief, as she screamed out towards the heavens of the tragedy that had befallen her- her child, her sweet, young poor boy who she had raised with tender love and care for 9 whole years already, his lower half of his body had been brutally crushed by a massive boulder-shaped, stone rubble, leaving him as dead as the cold ground beneath them and without any hope or chance of survival.

"... No... It's all my fault... W-why didn't I pull him... I should have carried him... No..." in terrible grief did the woman blame herself for the tragedy, as her mind still refused to accept the reality of her horrible situation. "No... No... T-this can't be..."

Suddenly, however, the grieving mother could hear some heavy footsteps coming from her right- in response to this, she anxiously turned her head towards the location of the sound...

"We have a live one over here..."

To her relief, they were simply 2 soldiers who had come to check the area she was in for survivors. Without wasting any time, the soldiers walked towards her and quickly began to take her with them to ensure her safety.

"Ma'am... We understand your loss, but..." there was a sense of understanding in the soldier's voice, as he too could see the dead corpse whom the woman was grieving for. "... We need to leave this instant. The area's still unsafe, we need you to come with us..."

The woman shot a glare towards them as she immediately protested- she really didn't want to leave just yet. "N-no, you don't understand... P-please, let me be..."

"Ma'am, you can't stay here." the soldier responded with a stern tone of voice. "As of now, there are still some of them lurking around. If we leave you be here, you will di-"

KABOOM!

Suddenly, the sound of explosions rang throughout the air from a location that was dreadfully near their positions. The soldiers snappily scanned their sorroundings for any signs of enemy movement, and upon seeing that there weren't any nearby hostiles, they quickly decided to take the woman with them in a hasty retreat.

"Novus, the civilian! What do we do with her?!"

"Carry her on your back, Anderson! We're meeting up with the others and going back to the rendezvous point!" one of the soldiers shouted as he withdrew his transciever from his belt, as his partner instantly paid heed to his command as he began to carry the woman and bring her with them. "Vanguard Alpha, this is Vanguard Charlie, sector 4-4 is unclear! We have a civilian with us, we're going to retreat for now!"

No... The woman's mind screamed in her thoughts. Despite the chaos that was happening around her, both her eyes and atention were fixed towards the dead carcass of her son- even now, the lone mother still refused to accept the unjust death of her poor, little boy.

And sadly, as the 2 soldiers hastily fled the scene while carrying her away despite her protests, all while the view of her son gradually drew further away from her line of sight, her mind went into a severe panic of emotions that made her reach her hands toward his direction- she was truly a grieving mother still unable to accept her loss indeed.

"No... No... No, no, no, no! NO! NO! NO! NO-"

________________________________________

The woman known as Anastasia woke up to find herself in her bed in a deep, cold sweat. It was another one of her dreadful nightmares, she surmised. Dreams of a past she could only vaguely remember- memories that her internal subconscious deeply wanted to suppress from her memories in order to protect her.

"... Haah... What time is it... Oh... That's right..."

It was another day to spend time with that adorable child she had adopted, a magickless little boy she had grown to love so much by now. It had been a few years since she had first met and took him in, and by now, he had already grown to be a fine, handsome young man who she could proudly call her son.

Many years ago, before she had met him who had been half-dead beneath the deadly, treacherous cliffs he had been brutally thrown off from, the only life she had led was with the tedious, boring experiments and researches she would often dabble with in order to temporarily relieve her of her crippling boredom. However, her life finally had a glimmering light when that child came into her life.

... Even still, Anastasia still couldn't resist still seeing him as the cute little pathetic child he had once been.

"Hm, well, alright then..." Anastasia would then yawn as she stretched her arms upwards. "I wonder what that child of mine is up to right now?"

________________________________________

From outside the castle's walls, in one of its empty, snow-ridden courtyards where only the trudging, mechanical golems could be seen, 2 individuals were testing out a sort of gun-shaped mechanism, a creation of theirs that they were all too curious to see how potent its abilities were.

"Woah...."

The device glowed with an effervescent, azur glow that seemed to blot out even the light from the sun, as the mechanical whirring of its internal mechanisms sounded simultaneously, as if it were charging for something.

"... Dear, be careful with that thing... You know how strong you calibrated it..."

"Don't worry, this won't be dangerous... For us at least..."

Suddenly, a red, searing beam of blazing light-energy emerged from its muzzle, rapidly impacting into the large, tree-sized boulder painted with a target sign on its stone skin- of course, the beam's potent force and energy allowed it to pierce through the boulder's heat-resistant body, leaving a gaping hole through its once sturdy structure, as molten stone and lava began leaking through its newly formed, head-sized cavity.

"... That was impressive, dear. And here I was expecting that thing to malfunction all of a sudden."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Hahahaha... You always have such low expectations of me... Whitlea..."

The black-haired, beauty of a maid giggled a bit. "Well, you see dear..." she replied, her purple-iris eyes seemingly glowing with a bit of mischief. "... If you expect disappointment, theoretically, you can never become truly disappointed..."

Whitlea von Prescilla, a biomechanical construct with the shape, appearance, and looks of a beautiful woman in her late 20s- a creation of Anastasia made to act as the caretaker of her "son". By now, it had been more than 5 years since her conception, and yet she had an unparalleled maturity as well as an undaunted sense of responsibility that allowed her to perform her duty as the prince's caretaker very well.

Right now, this woman was accompanying Novus in one of his experiments- after many years of living in the isolated castle, he had somewhat inherited some of his adoptive mother's mannerisms as well.

"I admire this philosophy of yours, but..." Novus said as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Isn't that kind of too... Y'know... Pessimistic?"

"I suppose it's just part of me when I was created, dear. Besides, you succeeded in this little experiment of yours, correct? You don't need take my words into heart too much then..."

By now, Novus had grown up splendidly into a young man of an impressive height and a charismatic look- unlike all those years ago, he was no longer the scrawny little brat who had nearly lost his life at the hands of those who were supposed to protect him. He had even managed to inherit his adopter's immense wit, as well her overwhelming knack for performing experimentations on technological monstrousities.

After fiddling a bit more with the heavy, deadly device he held with his 2 hands, he placed it on the table and replied to the maid's consolation.

"... Y-yeah, but still..." he stared at her as he spoke with his brows furrowed still. "Aren't you being a bit too mean to me again?"

Once more, Whitlea would smile as she would give back a glance. "Dear, I'm not being mean at all. I'm simply being... Er... Realistic."

"..."

"... Aha... Speaking of which..."the maid smiled as she tried dispelling the silence."... I-I remembered dear... Madame told me that she wanted to see you later this afternoon..."

"And you only told me this now... Because?"

"... I forgot to tell you of this earlier, I apologize... Hahaha..." Whitlea laughed awkwardly. "I'm really, really sorry..."

"... You idiot... Today's time is about be afternoon in a few minutes..." Novus sighed, slightly frustrated with how she had forgotten something so important. "... I better get going then. Could you clean things up here while I'm gone?"

Whitlea nodded lightly with a gentle grin. "Of course dear, I'll handle things with great care, don't worry."

"... By the way..." as he was about to leave, he nearly forgot one important question which he had fortunately managed to remember to ask. "... Where did she say she wanted to meet me?"

"Ah..." Whitlea paused for a moment, taking a few seconds to say her next words. "... The swimming lounge, dear, that's where she wanted to meet you this afternoon..."

A moment of silence temporarily ensued, as if his mouth was about to run agape- of all the places she wanted to talk with him, why there? "... The what now?"

________________________________________

"Hm, I must say, this place has gotten bigger... Did she do something to it?"

As Novus entered the rather spacious lounge, he couldn't help but admire how well-designed it's interior was.

There was a drinking bar being managed by a couple of his mother's emotionless, robotic lackeys to his right, and in front of him was a massive, clear-blue swimming pool that was enough for several people to dive into- ironically though, despite the castle being so massive, with many of its rooms being able to host many guests, the only living beings who truly populated the isolated place with their presence were 3 people, with them being the prince, the maid, and Anastasia herself.

"Oh... You're finally here. You took a long time coming here, did you?"

To his right were a couple of long white seats that simultaneously looked like makeshift beds, where one could both sit and lie down on- a sort of resting area where one could rest and enjoy a couple of drinks after a long swim. From one of the seats, Anastasia stood up as she walked closer to her 'son' to greet him.

Unlike her usual attire however, Anastasia was wearing a black, 2 piece swimsuit, with most of her smooth, fair skin completely uncovered as she sipped on a cocktail glass on her right hand with a small straw.

There was also a large, diagonal scar on her chest, an ugly blemish that looked old and had completely healed by this point, but this was the first time he had seen this wound on her before- after all, she had rarely ever walked around the castle in such an outfit before. Perhaps it was a wound she got before she had taken her in?

... For now though, Novus would choose not to dig into it... For now, at least.

"Yeah, about that... Did you purposefully tell Whitlea to tell me about this at a late time?"

Anastasia smirked as she stopped drinking. "... Oh...? How can you tell?"

"Believe me when I say that she's never that forgetful." Novus replied with a sigh. "She rarely ever forgets things, especially important ones."

"... How cute~ you're really so smart aren't you... My child..." she said with a smile, as she moved towards him and gave him a pat and scruffed his hair. "You know, that cleverness of yours is really annoying sometimes..."

"... E-enough of this, mother..." there was a protest from the young prince as the woman praised him- he was often like that, as he usually always wanted to get straight to the point. "... A-anyway... Why did you call me here?"

Suddenly, Anastasia would cease with her affection, moving her hand away as the expression on her face slowly grew into a somber one- Novus could instantly tell that she wanted to talk about something serious.

Just what exactly did she wanted to talk about? Could it be something about her past? Or something more important than that?

"... Take a seat with me first, my child..." she finally spoke, her voice containing a bit of sadness in her words as she pointed to the seat she lied down on previously.

________________________________________

"Before we begin, I'd like to request something from you..." she spoke slowly, letting her words sink into his head first. "... Be honest in answering my questions, alright?"

The 2 had seated themselves beside each other, as she gently placed her warm hand on his shoulder- it seemed like this conversation was going to be a long one, and Novus could feel a bit of unease rising within him with every second that slowly passed by.

"... O-of course, mother... Ask away then..."

Hearing his affirmation, a gentle smile formed on Anastasia's face. "Thank you, my child... Now, for my first question..."

Anastasia would waste not a single second with presenting her query.

"... Since you're about to become an adult next month, I've often began to wonder..." her tone slowly turned into one that seemed dejected.

"When you grow up... What do you plan on doing in the future?"

"Will you and Whitlea leave this place... For an ambition you've long dreamt of within your heart?"

Ah, so that was what she wanted to talk about, Novus thought to himself silently. It would seem that she was worrying if he was going to leave her in this isolated place- after all, both him and Whitlea were the only living beings Anastasia could converse with. If they left, she would have to live another long life of loneliness.

After all, after she'd rediscovered the joy of being connected with people she truly loved... She didn't want to experience the cold life of loneliness again.

"... You don't want me to leave huh?"

"Of course I don't... But..." she replied weakly. "If my sweet child truly wishes... I won't stop you from leaving..."

A faint hesitation would temporarily halt Novus from speaking for a moment- Of course, he was initially planning to leave the castle and explore the world. After all, this was a 2nd chance in life he had unexpectedly gotten long ago, and he didn't want to waste it by spending the rest of his life in a place that was far too isolated from the outside world. Inside his mind, there was also the thought where he wanted to at least get revenge on the ones who had sent those bastards to kill him... Or at least, the previous owner of this body.

... Although, at the same time, Novus didn't want to bring any sort of worry or sadness to the wonderful woman who had taken him in and raised him with love and care... Even if he had actually never been a young child in the first place, at least, not mentally.

"... Whitlea told you of my plans, huh... I probably shouldn't have been confiding in her too much..."

"... Hahaha... Don't blame her too much, dear..." she giggled delicately. "She got worried about you as well, you know? It's much safer here after all... Both of us don't want to see you getting hurt again..."

And then he remembered: that time when he had been thrown off the cliff and was left to die. The despair, the desperation... And most importantly, the rage. Fortunately, during that time, Anastasia had saved him just in time and had taken him in... It was an experience that Novus didn't want to live through again- though of course, that still wouldn't stop him from wanting to explore the outside world.

"... I guess there's no point in stopping you, hm?" without warning, she would quickly move towards him and wrap her arms around his body- a warm hug that signified just how much she didn't want him to leave. "... Fine then... But when that time comes... I want you to wait for a while... I'm building something... Wonderful for you~"

"... You're just trying to delay me from leaving..." Novus sighed, to which she would giggle mischievously. "... Well, if it's a present from my lovely mother, of course I'll gladly wait."

"Although... May I know what this 'something' you are building for me is?"

"... Absolutely not, my child~ it's meant to be a surprise, so I won't be telling you until the day it's finished~"

Novus sighed as he spoke, both amazed and annoyed with his mother's cheeky craftiness. "Alright, fine... I know you're not going to tell me no matter what I do anyway..."

"It's good that you know dear..." the usual warmth and happiness of her voice would seemingly return for a moment, before her somewhat somber tone would eventually return as she spoke again. "... Anyway, I have one more question..."

"Of course, mother, go ahead..."

"... I've been wanting to talk with you about this for a while... Though I haven't been able to find the right moment... that is, until now..." there was a hint of reluctance from the way she spoke, as if she still didn't want to ask this question just yet."... You see, dear... It's about your past-"

"...?"

Unexpectedly, something strange would suddenly occur within their vicinity- a completely unexpected scenario that should never have occurred.

________________________________________

It was then a large, red aura of light erupted from nowhere- it appeared everywhere at once from every angle, direction, and corner of space. It completely engulfed everything and everywhere within the room, like how the sun would often shine upon the world during daytime. However, she could immediately tell that this was no such normal occurrence- this kind of manifestation of a bright, otherworldly light in an enclosed room was completely unnatural after all.

Why was such a thing occurring now of all times? And more importantly, why was it occurring here as well?

There were many questions that formed within both their minds, though Anastasia's body had instead swiftly decided to take action before pondering about her thoughts.

"W-what... What is happ-"

"Hush, my child..."

Quick to react to the situation, Anastasia would swiftly rush towards her son as she began carrying him with her arms within seconds; it was as if she had already known just what sort of phenomenon had just transpired.

In fact, she had already quickly realized what exactly was happening based on her years of experience with these matters. She practically knew all too well what was happening right now: from the foreign energies that the seemingly omnidrectional light was emitting continuously, she could easily tell it was some form of magick.

'Magic, huh? How unpleasant...' the woman vehemently cursed within her line of thought which ran quite fast. What kind of interlopers would dare to attack her home, much more during a time when she was having a heart-to-heart discussion with her son?

It would seem that today's supposedly wonderful day had been ruined by an unforeseen circumstance... And now, it was her duty to get rid of this nuisance at once in order to restore order to her supposedly tranquil day.

What Anastasia didn't know, however, was that the source of this problem; the origin of this attack, was a far greater threat than what she had initially expected.