Zein and Kiomi were at the renovated port of Mirathun, which, after having been the scene of fierce battles, finally breathed a period of peace. The streets hummed full of merchants, traders, slave traffickers, and soldiers.
—I would prefer that in this new era of Mirathun slavery no longer existed —Kiomi commented, observing the hustle and bustle.
—It would be ideal, but abolishing it completely is going to take quite some time —Zein responded.
Both had come to the port to carry out a personal errand: Alexander had asked them for the favor of going to receive his daughter, who was finally returning to the island. Regrettably, neither he nor Mei had been able to attend.
Just a few days ago, the new government of Mirathun had approved a complete structural reform. That unleashed an immense administrative chaos. At first Alexander wasn't involved, but seeing his friend Miguel suffocated by the work, he decided to lend him a hand; the result was that he ended up just as overwhelmed, and Mei didn't take long to join them to help them get out of the fix.
That was how Zein and Kiomi ended up assuming the mission of picking up the little girl, who was traveling accompanied by her uncle.
—And what details do we have about her? —Zein inquired.
—I only know that her uncle is named Kron Yamamoto and the girl Aiko Yamamoto. According to Alexander, we will recognize her immediately because she is identical to Mei —Kiomi explained.
—Wow... Alexander could have very well given us a magical photograph or a more useful detail. It's going to take forever to find her among such a crowd —Zein complained.
Upon approaching the pier where the vessel would disembark, they stumbled upon a detail they had not foreseen: the saturation of the ship. Hundreds of passengers descended at the same time; the first land liberated from the control of the Empire in over a century was a destination no one wanted to miss.
The disembarkation turned the pier into an absolute chaos. The sea of people prevented them from seeing clearly, until suddenly Kiomi managed to spot a small girl of about six years old, on the verge of tears in the middle of the tumult.
Upon drawing near, she noticed the unmistakable trait: she was the living image of Mei.
—Hello, little one. Are you lost? —Kiomi asked her, crouching down to her height.
The girl, between sniffling and tears, limited herself to nodding.
Kiomi stood up and held out her hand to her.
—Let's go look for your relatives, okay? —she told her with kindness.
The little one took Kiomi's hand and they walked among the crowd. Zein hurried to keep pace with them.
After a while searching through the crowded pier, they came across a man who held an undeniable resemblance to Mei. After exchanging a few words, they confirmed that it was indeed Kron and little Aiko.
Without losing time, Zein and Kiomi guided them back home.
Upon arriving, Mei and Alexander were buried in paperwork, though they were already finishing up their pending tasks. Seeing his little daughter cross the door, Alexander's face lit up with emotion. He knelt down immediately and opened his arms wide to receive her in a big hug.
But Aiko walked right past without looking at him, running directly to take refuge in Mei's arms.
Alexander stayed there, kneeling in the middle of the courtyard with his arms extended and waiting for a hug that never arrived. The scene left Kron, Zein, and Kiomi stunned, but above all Mei.
—What happened? —Mei asked her brother, bewildered.
—The truth is I have no idea. She's been in a terrible mood the last few days; she wouldn't stop repeating that she wanted to go back home, that she wanted to return to Mirathun... There were days when she said it over and over and over again —Kron explained, shrugging his shoulders.
Still recovering from the shock, Alexander tried to approach Aiko again to speak to her, but as soon as he took a step toward her, the girl backed away frightened and hid behind her mother's skirt.
It was another heavy blow for Alexander, who was left petrified once again.
—Come on, my love, give your father a hug. You haven't seen him in a long time, okay? —Mei asked softly, trying to encourage her to come out.
—I don't want to! —Aiko shouted, turning around to run off into the interior of the house.
During the following days, Alexander tried by all means to win over his daughter, without the slightest success. Aiko did everything possible to avoid him at all costs for no apparent reason. When Alexander finally cleared his pending work tasks and had all the time in the world to dedicate to her, he ran headfirst into an impossible wall to break.
One day, on the verge of giving up, Alexander turned to Zein and Kiomi in search of help.
—What if you buy her a gift? Maybe that will cheer her up —Zein suggested.
—No, no, not at all. What she needs is to be pampered a bit —Kiomi opined.
—I already tried all of that and nothing worked —Alexander sighed, completely defeated.
—And do you have any idea why she reacts like that? —Zein inquired.
—I don't have the slightest idea. I don't understand what I could have done for her to avoid me like this —Alexander confessed.
In that instant, Kiomi's face lit up.
—Wait! A great idea just occurred to me —she said.
The three gathered in a whisper to fine-tune the details of the plan.
The next day, Zein and Kiomi crossed paths with Aiko by pure "coincidence" in the hallway. Suddenly, both began to "argue" heatedly over whose turn it was to clean. Zein put on a deep and dramatic voice declaring that their friendship "was broken forever", while Kiomi faked an exaggeratedly false cry bringing her hands to her face. Right after, Zein blurted out a rehearsed sentence about "the power of forgiveness", knelt on his knees, and offered Kiomi a bitten apple as a peace flower. Kiomi stifled a theatrical scream, hugged him as if they hadn't seen each other in ten years, and both sealed the reconciliation high-fiving with an absurd little dance. The performance was so painfully embarrassing that both ended up red as tomatoes out of pure secondhand embarrassment.
Aiko stared at them with a furrowed brow, mixing deep confusion with absolute discomfort, before turning around and walking away in silence.
Zein and Kiomi remained standing there, frozen in their ridiculous pose and swallowing their embarrassment.
—You know what... I think it will be best to give her space and wait for it to pass —Kiomi murmured with her pride on the floor, before leaving in a huge hurry alongside Zein.
And so he did. Alexander decided to wait patiently during the following days for his daughter to approach him on her own, but nothing happened.
Day after day, night after night, he held onto hope. During that time, Alexander picked up the habit of climbing up to the roof in the afternoons to contemplate the sunset, staying there until night fell and fatigue sent him to bed.
On one of those afternoons, Mei went up to the roof carrying little Aiko by the hand.
—My love... do you really hate your father that much? Enough to not want to speak to him? —Mei asked her with a soft voice.
The little girl didn't answer, limiting herself to turning her gaze away with stubbornness.
—Please, my love, look at your father... look at how he is —she asked her softly, pointing toward Alexander, who was contemplating the horizon with fallen shoulders.
Aiko raised her head. Her sweet and innocent eyes fixed on her father's face, discouraged and in silence on the roof.
The little girl's heart shrank all at once. With a gentle push from her mother, she ran toward him and pounced on him from behind.
Alexander turned around suddenly, bewildered.
—Aiko?! W-What are you doing here? —he asked clumsily.
—I'm sorry, Daddy! I... I didn't want to treat you like that. It's just that you never fulfilled your promise... —she confessed, breaking into a cry full of regret.
—My girl...
—You promised me that you were going to visit me after we separated. I waited every day at the pier waiting for you and Mom, but you never arrived... —she sobbed, wrapping her arms around his neck with all her strength.
—Forgive me, my sweet girl —Alexander responded, wrapping her in a tight hug as his voice broke—. I haven't been a good father and I didn't fulfill what I told you. No excuse justifies having made you wait, but I swear to you that something like this will never happen again. Truly forgive me...
—Do you promise me? Do you promise me that you'll never go away from me again? —Aiko asked, looking straight at him with her little eyes clouded.
—I promise you with my soul. So... don't hate me, okay? —he asked, letting a couple of tears drop as well.
—I could never hate you, Daddy —Aiko said, offering him a tiny smile before scrunching her nose—. But please don't rub your beard on me, it's super itchy...
Mei approached at a slow pace and wrapped both of them in her arms.
—How good this feels, right? —she smiled with tenderness.
—Yes! —both exclaimed at the same time.
That same night, Alexander organized a small gathering at home to celebrate that his daughter was finally back.
Everyone attended, except Kiera, who gave word that she would arrive later. Even Novius, whom they invited purely out of courtesy, made an appearance, which surprised and pleased the rest.
The party was just the breather they needed; the tense atmosphere of months had finally dissipated, filling the house with a familial warmth that had been absent for some time.
Lyra got along wonderfully with Aiko; being the youngest in the house, they hit it off immediately. Meanwhile, the rest spent the night drinking, talking, and enjoying the ambiance.
—Aiko, can you come here for a moment? —Mei asked, keeping her hands hidden behind her back.
—Yes! —the little girl nodded, running toward her mother with wide eyes.
—Here —Mei said, extending her hands with a warm smile.
It was a small handmade stuffed plush doll; the craftsmanship was simple and artisanal, but it preserved a unique charm. Aiko squeezed it against her chest the moment she saw it.
—Thank you! It's so beautiful —she exclaimed with a radiant smile.
—I'm very glad you like it, my love —Mei responded, stroking her head.
At that moment, Alexander approached them.
—I also have something for you, Aiko. It's... —he began to say while searching his pockets, but his hands found nothing—. Huh? How strange... where did I leave it?
—What's wrong? Don't tell me you lost her present —Mei looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
—No, I didn't lose it. I was sure I had it with me... Ah, now I remember! I left it at the office. I took it over there right when I finished assembling it, before they called us to help Miguel —he explained, giving himself a light slap on the forehead.
Mei sighed at her husband's forgetfulness.
—Wait for me here, I'll go and be back in a second —Alexander assured, walking toward the door.
—Don't be long, my love. We'll wait for you here —Mei told him.
—Don't be long, Daddy —Aiko insisted, hugging her new plush doll tighter.
The gathering continued between drinks and laughs, but after a short time Novius, somewhat affected by the alcohol, excused himself and headed to the bathroom, taking longer than usual to come out.
Meanwhile, Alexander advanced at a hasty pace toward the headquarters of the local government.
The building was practically in darkness; barely a couple of wall lamps cast a faint light along the stone hallways. The few guards patrolling the premises at those hours recognized him as he passed and greeted him with respect, letting him advance amid a strange and heavy silence.
Upon arriving at the main entrance, the only two guards on duty greeted him with a respectful gesture and opened the way for him without hesitation.
Alexander entered the office and began searching through the clutter. The place was an absolute chaos: open folders, accumulated records, and loose sheets covered desks and shelves. Even though they had concluded the paperwork days ago, no one had taken the time to tidy up.
After shifting a couple of files, his gaze met the target: a hand-carved wooden box.
It was no ordinary box, but a music box in which he had invested countless nights of work. The wood featured painstaking finishes and, upon opening the lid, one could appreciate a tiny carved figure representing the three of them as a family. Upon triggering the mechanism, the magical enchantment began to emit a soft and nostalgic melody: the very same lullaby that Mei used to sing to Aiko when she was just a baby.
Alexander smiled with tenderness and closed the box delicately.
However, upon turning around to leave, the light in the hallway cut out.
In the threshold of the door stood Novius. Without uttering a word, he pulled the frame and turned the key from the inside with a dry click.
—Novius? What are you doing here? —Alexander asked, puzzled.
The man did not respond. His silhouette remained motionless in the gloom.
—Were you looking for a document as well? Let me help you clear the table so it's easier —Alexander said, turning his back on him for a second to set aside some papers.
Before he could react, Novius shortened the distance in an invisible movement and drove a steel blade into his side.
Alexander let out a gasp of pain. He took a false step backward and pressed his side erupting with blood, looking at his attacker with absolute astonishment.
—What on earth are you doing, Novius?! —he exclaimed with a broken voice.
—In spite of everything we lived through together... in spite of the fact that you swore you would never forget me, neither you nor Miguel ever looked me in the eye again —Novius murmured, with an icy tone that oozed an aged rancor—. How can you sleep at night, knowing the kind of traitor you are?
—What... what are you talking about? —Alexander stammered, trying to maintain his balance while the pain clouded his sight.
—Did you really bury me so deep in your memory as to erase what you did to me —Novius said, clenching his fists while his voice trembled with rage.
—What are you saying? We only met a few weeks ago... —Alexander managed to articulate, feeling how air was beginning to fail him.
—Ah, of course... I was forgetting that with this face you don't recognize me —Novius responded, taking a step forward under the faint light from the window.
Novius brought his hands to his face. With a viscous and crunchy sound, he began to contort his skin, molding his face in a horrific manner until transforming his features completely.
There appeared a face that lay buried in Alexander's past.
—You... I-I thought you had died... —Alexander whispered, stepping back a pace, with his eyes wide open in panic.
—Of course, that's what you wanted to believe. But the past always returns —the man murmured with a deformed smile—. And I came for my revenge. Farewell, old friend.
In a outburst, the individual lunged toward him with the dagger raised high. Despite the initial shock and the hemorrhage in his side, Alexander's veteran reflexes reacted in time to dodge the thrust. Novius, seeing himself outmatched in physical combat, extended his hand and deployed his magic: sharp stone stakes sprouted from the wall, seeking to run him through.
Alexander stepped to the side awkwardly, but his body did not respond the same way. The dizziness from the blood lost clouded his sight, leaving him completely unprotected for a fraction of a second.
Novius did not waste it. He threw himself upon him and drove the dagger into his chest once, twice, three times, with disproportionate malice.
The impacts left him breathless. Without strength to hold himself up, Alexander fell heavily against the floor, knocking over the desk and dragging with him a sea of sheets and documents.
Outside, the din echoed through the dark hallways. The guards at the entrance ran toward the office and began pounding on the door with violence, shouting his name desperately, but the latched lock blocked their way.
From above, Novius contemplated him for a second with cold contempt before dissolving into the air, vanishing without leaving a trace.
In the impact of the fall, the wooden box slipped from his fingers onto the floorboards of the room. Upon opening from the blow, the small magical mechanism activated once more. The faint and sweet lullaby melody began to play in the silence of the room.
A thick and warm pool began to spread beneath Alexander, staining the papers a dark red and wrapping around the base of the gift. His breathing turned into a choked whistle. His vision was filling with shadows and the cold was beginning to take hold of his limbs. No matter how much he fought to cling to life, to keep his eyes open, his strength slipped through his fingers.
With his gaze fixed on the small carved figure that represented his family, gathering the last breath left in his lungs, he could barely articulate a broken whisper:
—Mei... Aiko... I'm so...
The words choked in his throat.
His body remained motionless on the floor, plunged in a pool of blood that covered the records and bathed the music box. And there, while the guards broke down the door with blows, the little melody kept playing for no one, under Alexander's empty gaze fixed on his daughter's gift.