Three persons were huddled together under a giant tree, sheltered under its weaved roots. They were none other than Ryu's companions from the last populated village under Cylon country's borders. 

Along with the pitch blackness, neither person spoke anything. Only the sounds of their vulnerable breaths gace their presence away. Itzel had her arms around the small frame of her daughter who seemed to have fainted from extreme shock. 

Beside her, Courtney sat with her arms touching hers at all moments. At times the priestess would sense her compatriot's skin shiver in terror. This meant Itzel was possibly the only brave lady among them. Previously she tried her best to console others, but as time passed on.. their hopes nosedived. 

Grated that only a little more than an hour had passed, however, situated under this heightened sense of awareness, even an hour felt like a year. Itzel's ears were ready to pick up any disturbances outside their safe space. 

Just one day back she had been so happy. Meeting with Ryu and having her accept her as a wife even in name, she felt like the future of her children was nothing but secured. Yet, who knew life could take such turns? 

Though her first worry was for Ryu, at the end of the day she was a mother as well. Even if her life had to be squandered away, Itzel at least hoped her daughter could be saved. 

And while she would not take even a breath's time to make the same decision as Ryu for her child, she was aware of the fact that she was no Ryu. She was so weak.. she can't even distract the person who threatened their lives. 

Under the deep darkness, the simmer from the gems adorning the mysterious casket. All this time, there had been no movement inside of this box as well. The way Ryu addressed it, she had assumed there was a person inside of it. Still, it was sitting there in front of their susceptible selves, not unlike a lifeless rock.  

Drowned in dismay, she felt Courtney make some movement. "Something is wrong... elder sister." It didn't take long for Itzel to notice the development as well. Over their heads, the strongly woven nest of the root was unwinding. 

Very soon the first rays of blinding sunlight incapacitated their visions. This was it.. they had been found. Those were the first thoughts of the demoralized mother. 

One second.. two seconds.. three seconds... Time passed and Itzel's eyes finally adjusted to the bright light of the day. The scene ahead of her brought a huge smile and a stream of tears at the same time for her. 

Ryu stood in front of them with a hint of a well-meaning smile. "Sorry to keep you waiting." Noticing the unconscious girl in her arms, the boy jumped down and embraced both Itzel and Courtney at once. "Are you guys okay?" Both women started crying like babies, abruptly nodding their heads. 

"Here.. feed her some water." Just as the first sight of Ryu had filled them with elation, when the ladies noticed a massive centaur jumped down right behind the green-haired boy, their hearts skipped a beat. 

The centaur girl held out a feeder towards them which Ryu gladly accepted. "Thanks, Darla." In their shock, the women could not even blurt out a single word. But thanks to the beautiful visage of Darla, it didn't take the boy much time to convince them the beastkin was friendly. 

Eventually, they were able to get the ladies back to their spirits. Jenny had woken up as well before falling back asleep due to mental exhaustion. Giving Itzel and Courtney time to relax their distraught nerves, Ryu came up to Darla who had put all her attention on the magical casket she was seeing after a long time. 

"I thought it had disappeared in that explosion." Darla vividly remembered being blasted away in the mana explosion and sustaining injuries. "You never told me it was with you." She directed a grievanced glance towards the boy, pretending to be hurt. 

Ryu revealed a wry smile, placing his arm around Darla's waist and pushing himself to push a peck on her lips. "There are a lot of secrets about me, Darla. Believe me, I can't afford to reveal everything to even you at this point in time." 

"It doesn't mean I don't trust you, it's just that..." Midway through his sentence, Darla actually took the initiative to kiss the human back. "I was just messing with you. You have already revealed a lot to me. I can wait for the rest to unravel with time. After all, where is the suspense in understanding you completely at once." 

They embraced and Darla took the time to caress his back. "I hope we could have come a little sooner. I can only apologize for what happened to your elder." The words filled Ryu with peril. He might have a young boy's body, but his soul was already at the cusp of maturity. 

There was no doubt that the news of Master Lyod's demise pushed him into a sense of despair, so much so that he even lost control for a brief second. Yet, it was not something he could not crawl himself out of. After all, for all the affection Lyod and he held towards each other, it can't be changed that their interaction was only for a quarter of a year. 

His much bigger worry was Sophia. Just thinking about that girl gave Ryu a heartache. How many times she told her Master Lyod was her only living relative? Was he strong enough to reveal such a horrible piece of news to Sophia? His little heart could not hold such raging emotions. 

Behind Ryu, Itzel and Courtney too heard the communication between the human boy and the centaur clearly. Despair inundated their minds as well. In the last week, while Ryu will be on his quest, they had spent most of their time chatting and bantering with the old man. No matter how they looked at it, it was a great loss. Both of them desired to know more about this tragic incident, but in view of Ryu, they kept quiet. 

Once Ryu had recovered, Darla saw him put his hands on the casket containing the living specimen of an Angel and make it disappear. "Did you do this last time as well?" The centaur could not help but shoot the question. 

"No. That time it was all an accident. I didn't even know she was with me for a long time." Obviously, when Ryu mentioned about the trunk, he was referring to the body of the Angel within it. 

"Ohh.." Darla nodded, not prodding the boy any further with her questions. "Let's get back. These woods are dangerous, we must return to my aunt as soon as possible." She commanded, stepping forward to take Jenny from Itzel's arms and place her carefully over her back. "I will carry her." 

On their way back, Ryu visited the sand pyramid that was supposed constructed for Master Lyod by his opponent. Each person paid their respects, deciding not to disturb the intimately constructed grave. 

While Ryu had so many questions as to why the person will go through the trouble of encasing Master Lyod's body in such a respectful way, he believed Mrs. Linda might have the answers. Not to mention that their attacker was not captured by Darla's aunt. They must make her reveal why she attacked them and what was her motive in capturing him. 

Demon had informed him that his experimentation with the Krypto vines had exposed him to a pretty dangerous group. He just hoped she was not from them. Because one can only imagine the trouble such a group will bring even someone as powerful as Demon within him will categorize as trouble. 

Saying goodbyes to Master Lyod's memorial, Ryu and the party left the deserted grounds, making their way back to Naila. 

***

"So she is the missing wife of this Lyod person you are speaking with... How intriguing.." Meanwhile, Linda and Yalda were holding an extended discussion with Naila. 

"Yes. But from what we have seen of her, she is either completely brainwashed now.. or she is not even Mrs. Paula anymore." Linda gave her assessment, staring at the unconscious woman who had totally been subdued by the centaur. 

"Surely. She didn't bat an eye against facing her husband. We don't need any more proof of her changed nature. Then again, what a shame being murdered by your own wife.." Whether it's a human or a beastman, a life was a life at the end of the day. 

Linda and Yalda both nodded, having nothing to add. "Can you tell me more about her disappearance? I mean where she left or was she captured.. by those vines?" Despite the glaring evidence, Naila hoped the vine's connection with this Demonic woman was only a coincidence. Because if they were truly related, Naila knew the gravity of this situation would increase many folds. 

The upper echelons of the Cylon Empire were obviously aware of Mrs. Paula's disappearance. While she was not among the strongest cultivators, she was no commoner either. 

"As long as it's not a state secret." Naila meanwhile had sensed the hesitation in Linda's demeanor, thus she left her a way out. Nonetheless, the Wilder lady shook her head in response. "A few weeks back this could have been a matter we could have kept this guarded.. but now... the abomination vines are all over the news." 

Naila sighed when the vines were once again brought into the discussion. This connection is what she feared the most. "Mrs. Paula... she had been fighting against a vine monster which was devoting the plantation trees. She along with her husband managed to repel the localized attack... but not before she was dragged into their home dimension." 

Naila's face changed drastically. "You mean she had come back from the Krypto vines dimension?" Linda nodded while Yalda took over after she had ushered proper medication to her mistress. "That is right. Provided we are not missing any crucial details.. this must be it." 

"Huu.. thankfully I didn't hurt her severely. She is a walking treasure trove." Krypto vines might have been a recent phenomenon, being discovered at the large plantation sites spread across the continent. Yet, their ability to feed on mana at an ungodly rate had made them a menace that even the beastmen race was plagued by the slow destruction of their most valuable resources. 

In such a scenario, one can only imagine the lure of a person who had been to the 'other side' and returned alive. Needless to say, in a way Naila was telling both the ladies that Paula now belongs to her and the humans should not even bother trying to lay claim over her. Both ladies were mature enough to get this hint without Naila explicitly mentioning it. 

"Madam.. if you don't mind, can we ask you something?" It wasn't Linda who continued the discussion, rather it was her maid who gathered the required courage to speak to a centaur on the same pedestal as a grand mage. 

"Hm.." In a thought, Naila casually signaled the lady to go right ahead. Linda already had an idea of what Yalda was supposed to ask their centaur savior, regardless she didn't stop her. 

Thinking she had the support of her mistress as well, Yalda compositioned her next question as respectfully as she could. "It is unrelated to this matter, but it's very much important to us. Rather, it's only because of this matter that the two of us had traveled so far from the capital city." 

Coming across the distressed tone of the human woman, Naila finally paid attention to her. "Go ahead.. tell me what it is?" Yalda consequently took a subtle glance at Linda and then continued. "Is there a possibility of madam being aware of a raiding party from the beastmen alliance.. sent inside the borders of Cylon recently?"