After finishing our business in Aegea, Anathasia and I returned to Earth.
The moment we materialized, the familiar sight of a mahogany cabinet filled my vision. Grounding, almost jarringly so.
I glanced toward the couch.
Fran was already there.
Her eyes flicked toward us before she gently closed the book in her hands and stood up.
"Welcome home," she said with a bright smile.
"Mom. Dad."
Anathasia, on the other hand-
"Kyaa~ we're homee~"
-immediately wrapped herself around Fran, nuzzling into her hair.
From the hallway, footsteps followed.
Lena and Egrathiel stepped into the living room.
"Ah, welcome home. Mom, Dad."
Lena smiled, while Egrathiel simply gave a quiet nod.
A few moments later, all of us were seated around the small table in the center.
And just like that, the mood shifted.
Lena spoke first.
"Egrathiel and I visited Uncle Joseph and Uncle Robert a few days ago."
She pulled out several photos from her blazer and spread them across the table.
Silence fell instantly.
The images varied-
Men in high-tech suits moving through dense forest at the edge of the city.
Others in white lab coats standing beside sleek black SUVs parked near a lone shack deep in the jungle.
Anathasia's eyes narrowed slightly as she picked one up. Then she let it fall back onto the table and leaned into the couch.
"They're moving already?" she muttered, glancing at Lena.
Lena nodded.
"Since I finished delegating leaders on the planets I've been guiding, I had more time to coordinate with Uncle Joseph."
She clasped her hands together.
"According to him-and the data they gathered-these people belong to something called the Transcendent Compromisation Agency. TCA."
I leaned forward slightly, eyes still on the photos.
"TCA...?" I murmured. "Some kind of classified organization?"
"More like a coalition between certain countries," Lena replied. "But yes. Something along those lines."
She exhaled quietly.
"Even with Uncle Joseph, the Li family, and the Fuyukawas working together... it's not enough to act as a barrier against them."
"It's-"
"It's only a matter of time before they trigger what I set up twenty years ago," Anathasia cut in smoothly, crossing her legs as she looked down at the table.
Lena gave a small nod.
"And if that happens..." she continued,
"...everyone involved with their organization, including their connections, might become Non-represented."
A slow breath left her lips.
"Or in other words..."
"No one would even remember they ever existed," I finished quietly, picking up one of the photos.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Lena and Egrathiel lowered their gazes.
Fran stared at one of the photos in her hands.
Anathasia said nothing. Though a faint, unreadable smile lingered at the edge of her lips.
The only sound in the room was the low hum of the air conditioner cutting through the summer heat.
After a long moment, I lifted my head and tossed the photo back onto the table.
"...If they're that eager to dig this deep..."
Everyone looked at me.
"...then why not let them face the consequences of their own actions?"
Lena froze.
Egrathiel went still.
Fran's gaze snapped toward me.
Anathasia just... huffed.
"You..." she shook her head slowly.
"Are you trying to apply basic logic here, or...?"
"I am," I cut in, leaning forward with my elbows resting on my knees.
"I'm pretty sure Joseph and the others already warned them."
A brief pause.
"They just chose to ignore it."
Lena reacted first.
Her hand slammed against the table, sending a few photos sliding off the edge.
"Dad!"
Fran flinched slightly.
Anathasia's gaze shifted toward Lena.
I just looked at her.
Lena froze, then quickly pulled back, clearing her throat.
"I'm sorry..." she murmured, her gaze dropping before hardening again as she looked back at me.
"But I don't think I can just-"
"Accept it?" I finished gently, letting out a small sigh.
"I get it, Lena. I really do."
A short pause.
"But if we want to stay here..." my voice lowered slightly, "then keeping who we are limited to as few people as possible isn't optional."
Lena went silent.
Her lips parted, then pressed together again as her jaw tightened.
"...Still..."
Another pause.
"I think..." Fran spoke up softly, a hand resting over her chest as she looked at me.
"What is it, Fran?"
She hesitated, then shook her head lightly.
"Isn't there... another way?" she asked quietly. "To steer them away...?"
"Your uncles already tried that," I replied, tapping my knee lightly. "They've probably developed something to track us down."
My expression softened.
"So that option's already gone."
A brief silence settled over the room.
"In fact..." I continued, my gaze shifting toward Egrathiel.
She flinched.
"...if anything, she's the most likely one they'll go after first."
Lena stiffened instantly.
Her hands clenched the fabric of her skirt.
"Humans don't stop once they decide something's real," I added quietly.
"They adapt."
A short pause.
"Whether it's a so-called anomaly or something far worse... they'll always find a way to build something that can hold it."
My gaze swept across the room. Egrathiel had already looked away, silent. Anathasia met my eyes and snapped her fingers once.
"In other words..." she leaned back slightly, "we just let them brush against *that thing,* huh?"
I gave a small nod, a slow breath slipping from my lips.
"Frankly... this is basically 'curiosity killed the cat,'" I let out a dry chuckle. "Except this time, satisfaction won't be bringing anyone back."
A brief pause.
"Not if they don't stop now."
Anathasia sank into the couch, staring up at the ceiling as she grumbled under her breath.
"What a nuisance... we just finished dealing with Reina, and now something else pops up..."
"Waiting is our only option for now," I said, pulling out my phone.
My fingers moved quickly as I typed out a message to Joseph.
"I'll have the others warn them one last time."
After sending it, I slipped the phone back into my pocket and glanced toward the glass panels.
Outside, everything looked... normal.
Calm.
"If they're still persistent after that..."
A quiet pause.
"...then whatever happens next isn't our problem anymore."
-
Hours later, I found myself sitting on a patch of grass overlooking endless green plains that stretched as far as I could see.
A few hundred meters away-
Anathasia stood alone.
In her hand was a long, thick blade. Blood-red, with a black line running through its center. Its edges wavered slightly, almost like they couldn't stay still.
The sky above us had begun to turn orange.
She glanced back at me for a brief moment-
Then moved.
A single swing.
It looked like she cut through nothing.
But in the next instant-
space tore open.
The air in front of her split apart, her surroundings fraying at the edges like unraveling threads.
And just as quickly, she closed it.
Like zipping something shut.
The blade dissolved in her hand.
"And..." I pushed myself up, brushing the grass off my hands.
"What was that supposed to be?"
She shot me a glance, shrugging lightly.
"Existence Severer."
A small pause.
"It's a sword I made before everything else. Call it a primordial weapon or something."
I blinked once, then tilted my head.
"...Looks like some sort of Kalis though."
She frowned slightly.
"Kalis?"
I nodded, letting out a quiet yawn.
"It's a kind of flamberged blade from the Philippines. Usually longer, though."
My gaze drifted back to where space had been torn open moments ago.
It still frayed slightly before finally stabilizing.
Then I glanced at her again.
"So..." I continued. "How's that thing doing?"
Anathasia smiled faintly, stretching her arms over her head.
And in the next instant, everything went grey.
The wind died. The trees stilled. Even the grass around us froze mid-sway.
"It's doing completely fine," she said calmly, turning to face me.
A pause.
"She's been fully rehabilitated."
A crack spread across the sky.
Thin at first, then widening
I followed her gaze upward as it split further, jagged lines branching outward like fractures in glass.
CRASH!
it shattered.
Fragments of space broke apart and fell around us as the crack tore open into a massive, gaping void.
"I think she's ready," Anathasia added lightly,
"to deal with them too."
Silence.
Absolute.
As something moved, the world went pitch black.
A silhouette emerged from the rupture, descending slowly, tendrils writhing around it like extensions of something that didn't belong.
"About time."
I blinked.
It was...
a girl.
"You've made me wait inside a fiction,"
A pause.
Then-
"Anathasia Veridielle Augthoria."
The dark tendrils surrounding the figure slowly peeled away, revealing the person beneath them.
My eyes widened for the briefest moment before settling again.
"It's been a while," Anathasia greeted casually, lifting a hand in a slow wave. Her head tilted slightly as she smiled.
"Anathasia Dunaleff."