“Your Blood Lily?” mother asked with a warm smile.

“Mhmm!” I nodded. “It just came to me! Well, also because you gave it your blood. Kind of looks like its veins are glowing!”

She gently giggled. “That’s because they are.”

“Oh,” I oh’d. I couldn’t help but laugh with her. “I guess they are, eheh!”

As we laughed, I could feel a certain sense of peace settle around us. The fountain’s steady trickle of water, the sun’s soft touch, the myriad floral aromas wafting through the air… and an impossibly satisfying sensation of identity. It was invigorating for the soul. For me.

It also served as an excellent distraction for the both of us. We simply sat there in silence, savoring every moment as it passed. Just a mother and her daughter sitting next to one another in their garden. Just a family being family.

It was nice.

“Lily?” she asked after an amount of time I couldn’t quite define.

I beamed a smile. That’s my name. “Hi! Yes?”

“I hate to bring an end to this happy period, but I must speak to you of the news concerning House Ab’Haima. The news I tried to tell you yesterday,” she said, pausing for a moment. “The grave news.”

Sensing the seriousness in her voice, I stopped swinging my feet back and forth as we sat on the bench. “Um… what is it?”

“Well,” she started, “there was… an incident, you see.”

“An incident?” I asked, tilting my head.

“Yes, something happened to the new heir of House Ab’Haima, or rather… something almost happened. The individual guilty of the crime attempted to…”

“To… what?” I asked when she seemed unable to finish.

Her scarlet eyes darted over to mine as she spoke. “To shackle him.”

“S-Shackle him?” I worriedly asked.” Like… how I was?”

“Yes,” she answered, my fear growing. “Fortunately, such a crisis was avoided as it usually would be. While it is not impossible to shackle a royal vampire, it is exceedingly difficult to do so. An attempt at such a thing occurs once in a while given our position in the world of myths, but with many precautions it can be avoided without worry. However, the simple fact that someone tried to shackle him is not my main concern…”

“It isn’t…?” I asked as worry knotted itself in my stomach.

“No, I’m afraid not. What concerns me is where this occurred,” she said.

“Where it happened? Why would that matter? Isn’t it bad either way?” I questioned knowing full well the answer would not be a pleasant one.

“Because,” she started, placing a hand on my shoulder, “it happened in the same town that I found you.”

I paused, staring at her for a moment and almost not even realizing what that could possibly imply. “S-So, where I’m from…?”

“Yes, Lily, where you are from.”

I froze, beginning to panic as my heart started to beat to a frightening tune. “It’s them, isn’t it?! I-It has to be them!”

“You are safe, Lily,” she said in an attempt to soothe me. “I promise you. Now take deep breaths, okay? Try to calm yourself…”

“I-I… Okay, I just… O-Okay…” I reluctantly agreed, trying to listen to her words and take a deep breath. I barely managed to do so, but I couldn’t keep quiet. “What… What happened? Why was the Ab’Haima person at the place where I’m from? Were they caught? Did-”

“Shhh…” she calmly whispered, pulling me into a hug. “Calm down, and I shall explain all that I can.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but closed it instead, nodding and leaning against her hug.

“For reasons unknown to me, the new heir of House Ab’Haima, Evander Ab’Haima, made a trip to the town you are from. While there, he and his bodyguards were attacked in an alleyway by a lone man in his early 40’s. The suspect was quickly apprehended and taken into custody, however-”

“So he was caught?!” I interrupted. “With black hair, right? And a really stupid scraggy face with dark brown eyes?!”

“From what I’ve heard, yes that is-”

She paused, staring at me and narrowing her eyes.

“Lily, did you just describe the appearance of your birth father and shackler?”

“Well yeah, I mean I want to make sure it’s actually him,” I replied.

She put a finger over her lips, seeming to observe or analyze me. “Do you recall feeling anything unusual two days ago? Sometime around early noon? It was the day I had a meeting with the A’Ketsueki family as well as the day I believe you first entered the garden.”

“Uhhhh…” I found myself confused at the abrupt subject change. “Why are you asking that?”

“Please, answer it first and I will explain. Any odd feelings at all? Specifically on your neck?”

“Well, um…” I paused, thinking back to that time. Let’s see, if it was on that day around that time… I think I was actually in the garden. A weird feeling specifically around my neck, hrmm…

I closed my eyes trying to remember…

…

…Lily.

I felt my cheeks flush a bright red as my heart picked up in speed. T-That’s right, he… S-Sebastian… he whispered my name on my neck and wait isn’t this the same spot we sat together and…!

“Y-YeahIfeltsomethingreallyunusual!!!” I squeaked out as fast as I could. “W-Why?!”

She turned her head slightly at my words, still observing me carefully. “Because you just described the appearance of one of your shacklers when you previously could not, and that specific time and day would be the time when the incident occurred. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“I-” suddenly felt as if maybe I had thought of the wrong weird feeling. I also felt whatever I was feeling a moment ago get replaced with a pit in my stomach. “So… I can talk about their appearances now? Why? And why would any weird feeling relate to what happened?”

“Because…” she started with a grim tone, “he’s dead, Lily. Shortly after being captured, his heart stopped, and… that is why you can speak of him. His death was the only way that the lingering effects of you being shackled could be removed.”

My jaw went slack. “W-What…? He’s… dead? Just like that?”

She put on a light smile in an effort to comfort me. “Considering that we confirmed you now have the ability to speak of one of your shacklers as well as the timing of the feeling upon your neck and the place the incident with House Ab’Haima occurred… I cannot see what else it could mean. I am very positive that your birth father is now deceased.”

I didn’t know what to say. I just… slumped in my seat, staring down at the ground. It’s not fair. He just… he never said anything to me. He never looked me in the eyes. From the very beginning, he never acknowledged I even existed, and he just… dies? He just gets to die? It’s just so infuriating! I mean, at least the other one-

Wait.

“Long black hair that reaches halfway down her back with dark brown eyes and a sharp, angled face that looks lifeless and uncaring.”

“I beg your pardon?” mother responded.

“Could you hear what I said…?” I asked, wondering if…

“Yes, I could. Long black hair, brown eyes? Is that…?”

I squeezed out the air in my lungs to make a short, nervous laugh. “She’s dead too, isn’t she? They’re both dead. They just… They’re gone.”

“It… would seem that way, yes,” she said, squeezing my arm. Her words seemed reserved, in a way. “I cannot help but be somewhat suspicious that both of them-”

“I want to see him,” I said, interrupting her with a deathly serious look. “We can, can’t we? We’re royal vampires and important and all that, so… I need to see him. I have to.”

“Lily, I’m not sure if…” she started to say, pausing as she looked me in the eye. I didn’t speak, but all she needed to understand how I felt was a simple glance at my expression. She sighed, conceding. “Alright. They should still have the body, so I’ll contact House Ab’Haima and request permission to investigate the incident, which should be no problem given that I am a renowned myth hunter. I’ll schedule it for-”

“Now,” I said with determination. I… I just had to see him. If he’s really dead, then… I need to see it. I need to know. I need it to be over. I need closure.

“I…” she started, thinking. “I believe that can be done, though it will not please the Ab’Haima family to show up on such short notice. Are you sure this is what you want?”

“I am,” I answered, still just as determined.

“Very well,” she swiftly responded with an accompanying snap. She stood up, offering her hand to help me stand. “Preparations are already being made. Are you ready to go?.”

I blinked. Wait, we’re really going now? I… Okay. I accepted her hand, standing up. “I’m ready.”

“Then let us depart.”

And so our stay in the garden came to an end as we walked back inside our home. I didn’t bother looking back to take in the sight, either. I had a goal and I needed to reach it.

As we stepped back into the hallway, I didn’t see Amber or Millie anywhere, just some other servants walking past here and there as mother led me upstairs to the second floor and into a room I had yet to visit.

Inside, the room seemed unusually simple. There wasn’t much furniture at all, only a counter with a maid behind it and a large open space off to the side. It felt weirdly naked and out of place compared to everywhere else in the manor.

Also, what are we doing here…?

“Hello, Lady and Lady O’Sang,” the maid beside the counter greeted, lightly bowing. “The gate to the Ab’Haima estate will be ready in just another minute.”

“Good,” mother replied.

Wait, wait, wait. What?

“Uh, what’s a gate?” I asked, understandably confused.

“Ah,” mother started to respond, “that would be our connective link to the global teleport system.”

I found myself still just as confused. Wait, actually, I recognize that maid from last night. She’s the one in charge of the… teleport system.

…

Oh. She was serious. We’re going to teleport. Okay, I mean that’s not much harder to accept than like anything else that’s happened. “I-I see.”

“You might feel a little dizzy if this is your first time, my lady,” the maid kindly warned.

“U-Um, okay. Thanks,” I responded.

Just as I said that, an ominous purple light burst into existence in the center of that open space to the side. The light condensed itself, searing an arcane circle onto the floor until eventually it stopped. The resulting mark on the floor hummed with a mysterious energy.

“And that would be our cue, daughter. Are you prepared to make the visit?” mother asked.

Staring at the magical circle, or gate I should say, I nodded my head and gulped. “I am.”

“Then take my hand,” she said with a reassuring smile, “and simply step into it with me.”

I took her hand and held it tight. With a few steps forward, we entered the circle. All I could remember for sure is that there was a bright flash. A bright flash, and then…

…darkness.