The house was small.

  Wooden walls. Claystone corners. A single lantern hung from the ceiling, casting soft gold across the floor. It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t fortified. But it was warm. Lived in.

  Rell stepped through the door last.

  His eyes scanned everything like it might vanish. The chipped plates on the table. The cracked window patched with rope. The way Myla and Grinish moved — like they had years here. Like peace wasn’t foreign.

  “Home,” Grinish said with a shrug. “Don’t laugh.”

  Rell didn’t. He stood in the doorway, silent.

  Then, from behind the hallway curtain, a little girl toddled out.

  Bright eyes. Curls tight like her mama’s. Skin warm brown and soft.

  She stopped when she saw Rell.

  And blinked.

  Then took a step forward.

  “Papa?” she asked, confused.

  Grinish laughed. “Nah, baby girl. That’s an old friend.”

  Myla scooped her up gently and kissed her forehead. “Say hi, Reeni.”

  The child waved once, shy.

  Rell’s voice was low.

  “…She yours?”

  Myla nodded. “One year last month.”

  Rell looked at her. Then at Grinish. Then back again.

  “…She safe?”

  “Yeah,” Grinish said. “She real safe now.”

  —

  They all sat around the small table. Food was simple — stew, hard bread, dried fruit. But Rell didn’t eat much. He just watched.

  His voice finally came.

  “…Sorry.”

  Grinish shook his head. “Nah. I deserved that. Joke was stupid.”

  They let the silence settle for a second.

  Then Myla finally said what he needed to hear.

  “Selena’s alive.”

  Rell looked up fast.

  “She made it out,” Myla continued. “We all did… but barely. After the explosion tore open the world, we landed on the edge of it. You weren’t there.”

  “We wait,” Grinish added. “Searched too. But the crack was closing. Soldiers were swarming. We had to move or get caught again.”

  Rell didn’t respond.

  Myla went on. “We kept low. Hid out. Took odd jobs. Tried to clear our names where we could. But… our records only existed ‘cause of the prosecutors.”

  Grinish smirked. “They both dead now. Case collapsed. We’re ghosts on paper.”

  Rell finally spoke.

  “Selena?”

  Myla’s smile faltered. “She stayed with us a while. But she was restless. Said she had a lead on her father. Something important. She left half a year ago.”

  Rell’s fingers curled around the edge of the table.

  “…She say why?”

  “Not fully. Just that she wasn’t done yet.”

  Thessia leaned back, arms folded. “She left y’all?”

  “She’s always been that way,” Grinish said. “Can’t sit still if her heart ain’t settled.”

  Neyxa eyed Rell sideways. “She leave a trail?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “North. Over the sea. Other continent.”

  —

  Ko Mala, who’d been quietly standing near the wall, finally stepped forward.

  “She strong,” he said. “She still walk her path. Just like jungle boy.”

  Thessia turned. “Jungle boy?”

  Ko Mala looked at her. “He not from here. You know that.”

  Thessia frowned. “We figured that much.”

  Neyxa crossed her arms. “You mean he’s not just some wild forest legend?”

  Ko Mala grunted. “He born in prison. Dimensional cell. Raised in dark.”

  Thessia blinked. “You serious?”

  Rell looked down.

  “...Was a hole. World forget me. They forget lotta people.”

  Grinish nodded slowly. “We got out. He didn’t.”

  Myla looked toward him. “You were just a kid.”

  “I ain’t a kid now,” Rell muttered.

  —

  Suddenly, a soft pulsing glow blinked from Neyxa’s side.

  She reached into her belt and pulled out a black-metal shard — shaped like a fang, etched with fine seams.

  A beacon.

  Assassin tech.

  She stared at it for a moment. Silent.

  Then tucked it away and stood.

  “I gotta go,” she said quietly. “Rell—see you in the forest tomorrow.”

  He didn’t ask why.

  She didn’t explain.

  Just nodded at the rest and slipped out.

  —

  The night stretched long after that.

  They talked more. About how Grinish and Myla had been doing odd jobs under fake names. About how Blessed Beasts were rare and sacred, and how Cursed Creatures were still being hunted by high bidders in underground circles.

  Grinish shook his head. “World ain’t changed much. Just the hands holding the knives.”

  Rell didn’t say much.

  But watching them — the child asleep in Myla’s arms, the way they laughed despite everything — it hit him.

  He was happy for them.

  But it hurt.

  He just missed her.

  He could feel it.

  ---

  Later, Rell and Thessia walked outside. The breeze was cool. The town behind them faded to murmurs.

  Thessia looked over at him.

  “So…”

  He didn’t look back.

  “You love her?”

  He stopped walking.

  Didn’t answer.

  She smiled a little.

  “Good thing you already got two wives. What’s one more?”

  Rell exhaled through his nose.

  Didn’t speak.

  But the faintest smile tugged at his mouth — like he accepted it without saying a word.

  —

  Scene Shift – Assassin Guild HQ

  Location: Hidden Chamber Beneath the Silver Hall

  A torch-lit conference room buzzed with tension.

  Hooded figures stood around a sigil-marked table, each bearing the crest of the Assassin Guild.

  An elder voice spoke:

  “The old king returns.”

  From the shadows, a figure stepped forward.

  Coat torn. Face sharp. Scar still visible beneath his left eye.

  Zerro.

  He smiled.

  And the room fell silent.