The scene opened up with both Xavier and Adam standing before a massive building that read, "Mental Clinic Hospital" in full silver metal on the wall.
Xavier looked confused as to why Adam had brought him here. But before he could question him, Adam calmly began walking toward the hospital entrance, casually saying, "Don't be anxious, Xavier. I'm not plotting anything. You can trust me."
Taking a moment to reflect, Xavier gave in and decided to follow. He was already here, and it wouldn't hurt to see Adam's reasoning.
As they entered the clinic, passing by staff and other admitted patients, the atmosphere shifted. Sterile. Heavy. After a quiet walk through the halls, they arrived at a room marked: Patient Room 21.
Adam knocked firmly, then slowly opened the door.
Inside was a woman dressed in white—standard hospital clothing. Her long, delicate hair hung down like spider silk, shimmering with a brilliant orange hue, like the sun at dawn.
"Miria," Adam said softly, with a sweet tenderness in his voice that caught Xavier completely off guard. He had never heard Adam speak like this before. "How have you been lately?"
The woman didn't answer. She only turned her head slowly—her blazing orange eyes meeting theirs. Her skin was pale, ghostly. Her eyes, lifeless and ringed in black, seemed to peer straight through reality.
Xavier stiffened. Something about her shook him to the core—she looked like a walking corpse, barely holding on to the thread of existence.
Adam stepped closer, kneeling slightly as he ran his hand gently through her hair, almost like he was calming a frightened animal. "Have you been eating? Sleeping well?"
Still no response. Her expression remained blank, but something beneath it twitched. A flicker of irritation. Xavier noticed it.
Adam frowned slightly. Then, realization dawned.
"Wait... you're not mad at me for not visiting in a while, are you?"
That got a reaction. Her cheeks puffed in childish frustration. Then, without warning, she pinched Adam's arm.
"Ow—okay, okay!" he laughed nervously, flinching at the unexpected strength behind the gesture. "I'm sorry, Miria! I won't ever go weeks without visiting again. I promise."
He softened. "Do you forgive me?"
There was a pause.
Then, for the first time in what seemed like years, a radiant smile broke across Miria's face—so warm, so sudden, it lit up the room like sunrise after an endless night.
She threw her arms around Adam, hugging him tightly. Adam blushed, clearly flustered.
Then he turned toward Xavier, suddenly remembering he wasn't alone.
Xavier stood awkwardly at the edge of the room, arms behind his back.
"Ah—sorry," Adam said with a chuckle, quickly recovering his composure. "Xavier, this is Miria."
He gestured toward her, smiling proudly.
"My wife."
"Wife?!" Xavier blurted in shock. "You have a wife?!"
Adam laughed again, sheepishly this time. "Don't say it like that. It shouldn't be that surprising, right?"
He shrugged. "Though, I suppose with how I come off... people assume otherwise."
He turned back to Miria. "And Miria, this is Xavier. The boy I told you about—the one I would meet after leaving for Russia."
Miria's gaze shifted to Xavier, and her eyes locked onto his. Cosmic. Bright. Familiar.
Something flickered in her memory—a face, younger, with orange hair, and a radiant smile similar to Xavier's. The image stabbed through her mind.
Then it happened.
Fear.
Dread.
Despair.
Her eyes filled with horror. She screamed.
The shrill sound echoed through the halls, triggering alarms. She recoiled, hiding her face in her hands, trembling uncontrollably.
Xavier stood frozen. Shocked. Hurt.
Before he could speak, the door burst open. Medical staff flooded the room, rushing to calm her, contain her episode.
Amid the chaos, Adam stood by her side. His hand on her shoulder. His eyes, solemn.
I knew this would happen, he thought bitterly, glancing toward the shaken Xavier.
...
Moments later, outside the hospital, silence lingered between them.
Xavier finally broke it. "Why did you bring me here?"
Adam inhaled slowly. Avoiding the question, he asked, "You're wondering why she reacted that way, aren't you?"
Xavier nodded.
"My wife..." Adam began, voice low, eyes distant. "She was once the brightest, most vibrant soul I'd ever met."
He looked at Xavier.
"When I first met you, I had already been watching your life from the shadows... and in you, I saw glimpses of her."
Xavier said nothing, but something in him stirred.
The storm was only beginning.
"Miria and I met when we were young—just two lonely souls who had no one else to rely on but each other," Adam began, his voice distant, almost like he was narrating a dream long buried beneath years of pain.
"Eventually, we got married. And not long after, we had a son... Caelan. He looked like both of us. Our little miracle."
He paused, swallowing hard.
"Caelan Durandel. That was the name of our very first child."
A somber smile flickered across his lips.
"We were happy. Truly. Our family was whole in a way words couldn't describe. We filled the gaps in each other's lives. We were unbreakable—or so we thought."
Adam's voice cracked slightly.
"Then... that day came. The day everything shattered. The day Percival arrived—aboard some flying ship that tore open the fabric of space as if it meant nothing."
The mention of Percival tensed Xavier's body, his breathing slowing as unease swelled within him.
Adam's expression darkened.
"He took my son, Xavier. Ripped him from Miria's arms. Caelan was special—just like you. And Percival... he's not just a monster. He's something else. Something godlike. His presence alone paralyzed the air around him."
Xavier's eyes widened. A lump formed in his throat.
"I tried," Adam said through gritted teeth. "I tried everything to protect my family. But it was useless. He left me bleeding out, clinging to life by a thread. The last thing I saw was Miria—crying, screaming—as she watched our son taken away and her husband dying beside her."
Xavier clutched his chest, an unfamiliar pain stabbing through him. How strong was Percival to leave Adam—this terrifying, composed man—on the verge of death?
"After that," Adam continued, voice trembling now, "Miria broke. Her light dimmed. Her spirit shattered. She was never the same."
He looked Xavier in the eyes.
"You remind me of him as well. Of Caelan. The same fire in your gaze... the same soul. But Caelan was only three when he was taken."
Adam's hand trembled slightly as he ran it through his hair, as though the memory were physically clawing at his mind.
"Seeing your face triggered one of her panic episodes. That's why she reacted that way."
He let out a shaky breath and turned his gaze to the night sky, stars reflected in his tired eyes.
"So to answer your question... the reason I brought you here today was because of my own selfish desire. To see even a fragment of my son in someone else—to imagine, for just a second, that I hadn't lost him forever."
He swallowed.
"I spent years diving into the filth of the underworld. Politicians, mercenaries, cults... all in search of where Percival kept Caelan. That's how I found the Lantern Society. That's how I met Victoria. Teslaine."
Adam's voice grew heavier.
"At first, I hated them because of their associations with Percival. But then I learned. Victoria told me her sister died helping an infant escape from one of Percival's labs. An abducted child, experimented on like livestock."
He clenched his fists.
"I thought if I found that child—the one who escaped—I could use them as leverage. Bait. A bargaining chip. Anything to get my son back."
He paused, visibly ashamed.
"It was a disgusting plan. But desperation erodes morality. I didn't think clearly. I just... needed something. Anything. If there was even the smallest chance that child meant something to Percival—maybe they were a memory, a mistake, a symbol of his failure—I thought I could exploit that."
Adam laughed bitterly.
"Then I met you. And I realized it wasn't just a maybe. Percival is obsessed with you. He values you more than anything else—even his own daughter."
Xavier's fists clenched at that. He didn't deny it. Adam was right.
"You've seen it, haven't you? How he watches. How he lingers. How he goes out of his way just to toy with you. That obsession—it's real. And when I saw it... I knew. You were my only real chance left."
A long silence followed. The night air hung heavy between them.
"So I brought you here to show you the truth," Adam said finally. "To strip away any illusions you had of me. I'm not a hero like my son used to think. I'm not even a man worth trusting. I'm just a coward—willing to use a child to save his own."
His voice softened. "Every pain you've suffered lately... it's my fault. I manipulated you. Used you. And for that, I deserve your hatred."
Adam stepped closer and opened his arms.
"So if you need to scream, punch, cry—do it. Take it all out on me. Just... don't let the world break you the way it broke me. Don't let the fire inside you become poison."
He looked Xavier straight in the eyes.
"Don't lose your light. If you must burn, let it be for something greater. Don't let it turn to ash."
Xavier stood motionless, breath caught in his throat. His mind swirled with emotions—anger, sadness, pity, confusion. But through it all, something deeper ached. He didn't say a word. Not yet. He couldn't.
And in Xavier's eyes, Adam saw it again. That spark. That same radiance he once saw in a three-year-old boy named Caelan. And in that moment, the storm of memories—of laughter, of love, of a life he'd lost—washed over him like rain against a shattered window.
He smiled.
"Just... don't lose that spark."
Xavier began to ponder deep within his mind, thinking of a way to respond.
What should I say? he thought, completely dumbfounded. I never knew this side of Adam existed.
Though he had always suspected Adam harbored ulterior motives when he first offered to help him uncover the truth about his parents and past, he hadn't expected this. Not a tale of tragedy and broken dreams.
After a long pause, Xavier finally spoke. His tone was calm, but serious.
"I already had a feeling you were plotting something when we first met. That you had secret motives."
He looked up at Adam.
"But the cold, cunning man I imagined has been completely shattered today."
Adam blinked, visibly surprised.
"I still don't agree with what you did, Sir Adam. But... I understand. Not fully, maybe I never will—but I get the desperation. That pain of losing something you can never get back."
Xavier's voice dipped slightly.
"I've felt it too. Even at my age, I've wished more times than I can count to turn back time. To see my father just one more time."
He stepped forward and gently punched Adam in the stomach—not in anger, but with a determined look.
"But from what you told me today… I'll do everything in my power to save your son. To bring back that smile you and Miria lost because of Percival."
Adam chuckled softly as he wiped the corners of his eyes.
"You sure do act mature for someone your age. I hope Caelan's still as bright as you are... wherever he is."
Xavier allowed himself a small smile. A sudden pang of guilt bloomed in his chest.
So this is how Teslaine must have felt, he thought, his mind replaying Miria's trembling eyes and fear-filled scream. Seeing someone who reminded her of pain... of loss.
Just like how I lashed out at Teslaine.
I really was cruel to her, wasn't I?
He turned his gaze toward the hospital, his heart heavy.
I'm sorry...
Time passed. Midnight settled quietly over the world.
In Xavier's small room, he lay sprawled out on the bed, mouth open slightly, drooling. Alcmena snored softly beside him, curled up comfortably.
Unmoving and silent stood Anastasia, watching them sleep.
I'm glad to see young master smiling again, she thought. He needed this.
She quietly closed the door behind her, her footsteps making no sound as she left the room.
But as she stepped away, her expression darkened.
Her mind drifted back to earlier that day—to the fight. To the creature that had disguised itself as Teslaine.
Anastasia remembered the moment, clear as crystal:
"Any last words before I send your head flying?" she had asked, blade poised.
The creature smiled with mad devotion.
"I wouldn't call it my last words," it said. "I've always been ready to die for Lord Percival. But a colleague of mine asked me to pass something on if I met you."
Anastasia narrowed her eyes. "A colleague?"
"Yes. He said he remembers you."
She tensed.
"The Noble Saito family."
Those words hit her like a bullet. Her body froze.
The creature's grin widened.
"Oh... that name struck a nerve, didn't it? You remember the Saito family? The one your little peasant assassin group slaughtered over two decades ago and left in ruin?"
It laughed maniacally.
Then came the real dagger:
"He told me to say this—word for word: 'If this decision comes back to haunt us... Sixteen, the blame is yours. Remember that.'"
"Those were the exact words spoken by one of your comrades, weren't they?"
The words echoed in her head.
The creature tilted its head, mocking her. "He's waiting for you, you know. In the forest near the mountains. A few days from now."
"It's not a request. It's not a threat. It's your fate."
"Unless... you'd rather watch your precious brat die of 'natural' causes."
That was the final straw. In one fluid, venomous strike, Anastasia decapitated the creature without hesitation.
Now, outside Xavier's room, her heart pounded.
The past clawed its way back into her mind. The hunger. The blood. The girl she once loved like a sister—Eighteen.
Why now... Why again...
Anastasia clenched her fists. Sweat dotted her brow.
I don't know who's waiting for me out there... But if I ignore this, Xavier might suffer. And I won't allow that.
She steadied her breathing, eyes steeling.
"He's gone through enough already," she whispered.
Her voice was cold but resolute.
"I won't burden him with my failures. Not again."
But deep within her... the weight of that message still lingered.
Someone from her past had resurfaced.
And they weren't done with her.
Not yet.