"Is this how a father feels when his daughter gets married off?" Arthur pondered as he sat inside the makeshift tent with his back against the wall.
Having just eavesdropped on Alex’s and Nadia’s conversation, he couldn’t help but feel conflicted.
He sighed. "Nope, that is tame compared to this. The young lad left without saying goodbye."
Despite acting nonchalant, Arthur was well aware of Nadia’s true feelings.
When she first started down that path, same as her mother, he tried to pull her back.
But Nadia was stubborn... maybe too stubborn and because Arthur was scared she’d run away, he didn’t try to force her.
And so he watched her continue to go down that dark path until there was no hope of her coming back.
"I always make the same mistakes," Arthur muttered self-deprecatingly. "I see young ones doing the wrong thing but because I’m scared of losing them... I never try to correct them and yet hope that they will find salvation somehow."
Chuckling softly, he added. "Maybe that’s why they both left me."
He didn’t wish to show it but he was hurt.
"Hah... what am I doing?" Trying to laugh off the pain, Arthur slowly rose to his feet before stepping outside the tent.
Staring at the night sky, he muttered. "I guess I should wish you good luck out there, Nadia my dear. I hope you find peace.... And if possible, please, don’t go down the wrong path."
With those words, Arthur fell to the ground on his buttocks and closed his eyes, dreaming of a time when he wasn’t so lonely.
Right beside BoneHaven’s reconstruction site, a couple of white tents were laid out with the insignia of the D.O.D. imprinted on them.
They numbered roughly 30 in total, each one occupied by at least 2 Enforcers save for say 2.
These 2 in particular were meant for the Family Head that accompanied the group and Lady Ana that was currently undergoing recuperation.
"I told you to not mess around so much!... Now look what happened!" A middle-aged man with long white hair on his head and a well-trimmed beard, wearing a standard army uniform remarked angrily as he sat beside Anastasia’s bed.
Ana chuckled at his disgruntled expression. "You look like a constipated pig."
"Ana!... This isn’t the time for jokes!... You nearly died."
"...But I didn’t," Ana replied after some hesitation.
"All thanks to the so-called Hunter I’ve been hearing about."
"A great man, isn’t he?"
"I don’t care. What I do care about is his current location."
"What?" Ana feigned ignorance as the man stared intently at her.
"Hah... fine then. Get some rest." The man remarked as he got to his feet. "I’ll see you later."
"Alright, that’s fine." Ana smilingly replied before adding. "Oh yeah."
"Try to smile more, it’s good for your skin."
"..." Shaking his head, the man left the tent, finally providing Ana some well-deserved privacy... or at least it seemed that way.
Without drawing attention over, Ana unleashed her will, forming a dome of aether around her tent.
"You may come out now." She casually remarked.
Silence reigned for a few seconds before a familiar voice was heard.
"You knew I was hiding?"
"I could barely sense you," Ana replied with a shrug.
Alex chuckled as he made his way to her bedside.
"How are you feeling?"
"...Weak, Pathetic, completely out of it... yeah, not so good." Ana frankly said.
"Basar was a tough opponent."
Ana shook his head. "Not just him..."
"The third party," Alex muttered, causing the atmosphere in the room to grow tense.
Ana remained silent for a moment before she slowly replied. "I need to tell you something."
"I lied when we first met."
"That... don’t be upset but..." Ana trailed off, unsure if finishing the story would be wise.
Noticing her hesitation, Alex chuckled. "Go ahead, tell me."
"Well..." Ana pursed her lips. "The reason I came to BoneHaven... it wasn’t just because I was patrolling."
".... I sensed something."
Alex’s brow quickly furrowed. "What?"
"As Cryptids, it’s easy to be sensitive to the flow of aether, especially when it’s all wrong."
"What are you trying to say?"
"The aether flow in BoneHaven was all wrong. That was what caught my attention. It felt like there was an entity in the city that was constantly unleashing its power, keeping a tight hold over it."
"... Are you sure of this?" Alex inquired with a frown.
"Yes," Ana replied. "As I got closer... I felt fear...I was so afraid of what I’d find if I looked deeper so I ended up glossing over the reason I truly came to BoneHaven with a sloppy lie."
"You lied to yourself so you won’t have to be scared."
Ana nodded wordlessly while Alex’s eyelids flickered as he thought of a possibility.
There was something shared by everything he had gathered so far about the third party.
’Just what are you after?’ Alex wondered as questions kept popping up in his mind.
"You can’t stay here long." Ana suddenly spoke up, jolting Alex from his thoughts.
"Is it because of the old guy from earlier?"
"He is a Family Head, a Saint of the Warrior Wheel. Even I wouldn’t dare fight him in my current state without the intent to kill."
"His anti-magic is the main threat." Ana remarked before adding rather casually. "That and half of my true strength is currently sealed."
Recalling Natasha’s anti-magic, Alex knew well enough that he wasn’t well equipped to face someone at such a level so the sensible thing to do, of course, was to retreat.
But then catching the latter half of Ana’s sentence, he glanced at her expecting an explanation but based on the look on her face, she didn’t seem willing to share.
Sighing heavily, he rose to his feet. "I must admit... we lost."
"Pretty pissed that whoever was the true mastermind behind all this is still out there."
"... If he ends up being connected to my mission, I won’t hesitate to end him," Alex assured her.
Ana nodded. "I guess you’ll be leaving now."
"Indeed," Alex remarked before adding. "I would like to start my search for Sephiroth."
"Will you come back for me?"
Alex flashed a smile. "Absolutely."
Alex acknowledged her thanks as he turned to take his leave only to pause as Ana called out to him.
"...What Branch are we picking up first?" Ana asked before quickly adding. "You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to."
Alex glanced back at her. "It’s alright."
"Nice, so which?" Ana’s eyes shone like a child curious about a secret.
Chuckling lightly, Alex replied. "Naturally, we’d go for the closest one."
"Indeed, The Mantle of Darkness is the first on the list."