Chapter 587: Where’s Anya?
The Maiden of Fate gathered the children closer.
Charlotte was already crying, her face pressed against her aunt’s shoulder.
Astrid was trying to be brave as the older sister, but tears streamed down her cheeks despite her efforts.
The others were sobbing openly, their small voices rising in a chorus of confusion and terror.
"What happened to Mika!?"
"Is he going to be okay!?"
"Why does he look like that!?"
"I want to see him! Let me see him!"
They had imagined the reunion so many times—Mika emerging from the darkness ready to be smothered in hugs and kisses and tears of joy.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
"Don’t look." The Maiden of Fate whispered, holding them tighter. "Don’t look, my darlings. Just stay here. Stay with me."
But even as she said it, tears were streaming down her own face. Because she had known.
She had seen this moment in her visions, had glimpsed the terrible divergence of fates that awaited the two children in the darkness.
One would rise. One would fall.
Anya had risen. She had gained her blessing. She had become the phoenix that would shed its mortal feathers and soar.
And Mika...
Mika had fallen further than anyone could have imagined.
This is my fault, the Maiden of Fate thought, the guilt cutting through her heart like a blade. I saw this coming. I knew this would happen. And I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t save him.
What good is seeing the future if I can’t change it?
—
Fauna didn’t hesitate.
The moment the Anti-mana field no longer suppressed her powers, she called upon every drop of her blessing.
The sky above them blazed with golden light, so bright that it seemed to chase away the very concept of shadow.
The ground beneath her feet began to glow.
This was the Divine-level Resurrection Spell that she had used on Mika in the future in a hospital.
Boom!
A pillar of golden vitality descended from the heavens. It struck Mika’s broken body with the force of a collapsing star, enveloping him in light so pure and brilliant that it hurt to look at.
Fauna poured every emotion she had felt over the past sixty-one days.
Every sleepless night she had spent digging through solid stone with her bare hands.
Every prayer she had whispered into the darkness, begging whatever powers might exist to bring her children back to her.
"Hold on, Mika!" She sobbed, her hands pressed against his chest, her tears falling onto his ruined face. "Mommy’s got you! Mommy’s right here!"
"Nothing bad is going to happen anymore. I promise. I promise. Just...Just hold on!"
The family watched in silence. They didn’t dare speak. They didn’t dare breathe.
They just stood there, the most powerful beings in existence, reduced to helpless women and prayed.
It was almost funny, in a dark and bitter way. None of them believed in gods. How could they?
After the horrors of the Eternal Queen’s realm and the countless atrocities they had witnessed in the wars that followed, the concept of a benevolent deity watching over them had become laughable.
The universe was chaos and cruelty, and the only thing you could count on was yourself and the people you loved.
But in this moment, every single one of them prayed.
’Please.’ Yelena begged, her hands clasped so tightly that her knuckles went white. ’Please, whatever is out there, whatever might be listening, don’t take him from us!’
’He’s just a child. He’s just a little boy. Please!’
’I’ll give anything.’ The Maiden of War offered, still on her knees, still staring at Mika’s broken form.
’My strength. My limbs. My soul. Take it all. Just let him live!"
’I’ll never ask for anything again.’ Nadia vowed, her eyes still closed, her body still trembling with the effort of containing her power.
’I’ll never complain about my inability to show my emotions. I’ll never doubt you ever again.’
’Just...let my baby be okay.’
’It should have been me.’ The Maiden of Fate thought, holding the children tighter. ’I should have found a way. I should have broken the prophecy.’
’I should have taken his place!’
And Anya just stared at Mika and whispered the same words over and over.
"Please...Please....Please...Please."
WHROOM!
The golden light blazed brighter. The pillar of vitality intensified until it seemed to connect heaven and earth.
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
Fauna’s scream of effort and desperation echoed across the landscape, a sound that contained all the love and fear and hope of a mother who would rather die than lose her child.
And then, slowly, the light began to fade.
Fauna pulled back, gasping, her face pale and drawn with exhaustion.
"Did it work?" Yelena demanded, stepping forward. "Fauna, did it—is he—"
Fauna looked down at the boy in her arms.
And smiled.
"H-He’s alright." She whispered, her voice breaking with relief. "He’s a bit tired, but he’s going to be alright."
Mika’s body was whole again. The missing limbs had regrown. The torn flesh had knitted back together. His face was his face once more
Of course, he was still pale, still weak, still bearing the invisible scars of everything he had endured.
But he was alive. He was whole. He was safe.
Realising this,Yelena broke down sobbing on the spot, her composure finally shattering after holding strong for so long.
"My baby!...My baby is going to be fine!...He’s really going to be fine!"
She covered her face with her hands and wept like a child, her tears falling onto the grass that Mika now lay upon.
The Maiden of War collapsed onto her back, staring up at the sky with tears streaming down her cheeks.
She didn’t try to hide them. She didn’t try to be strong.
She just lay there, crying silently, her chest heaving with the force of emotions she had kept bottled up for two months.
Nadia let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, and the ground beneath her feet rumbled—not with grief this time, but with joy.
A small tremor, barely noticeable. Just the earth itself sharing in her happiness.
The Maiden of Fate hugged the children tighter, her tears falling into their hair.
"H-He’s safe." She whispered. "My little boyis safe. My baby is alright."
She had spent decades protecting the world. She had safeguarded the future and guided the present and preserved the past.
’But what good was any of that...’ She thought. ’...if I can’t even protect my own child?’
’What use was all of my power and wisdom and foresight if I can’t even keep a five-year-old boy from being torn apart in the darkness?’
Nothing. It was worth nothing.
But now—now he was safe. Now he was whole. Now he was alive.
And that was everything.
—
Anya watched it all from a few feet away and when it was over and the family wept with relief, she smiled.
’I...I did it.’ She thought in realisation. ’I protected him...For the first time in my life, I protected Mika instead of him protecting me.’
She had spent so long being the one who needed protecting.
And finally, at the very end, she had been able to return the favor.
’If I died right now.’ She thought with a wry smile. ’I would die without regrets.’
But no. That wasn’t right.
She couldn’t die yet. There was still work to be done.
Her eyes, which had been soft with relief and love, hardened into something cold. Something that had been born in the depths of that lightless cave and had not yet been laid to rest.
She turned away from her family and began to walk.
No one noticed her leave. They were too focused on Mika.
Fauna was cradling him against her chest, kissing his forehead, whispering promises and reassurances that he was too unconscious to hear.
Yelena had her hand on his cheek, feeling the warmth of his skin, reassuring herself that he was real.
The Maiden of War had finally gotten to her feet and was hovering nearby, looking like she wanted to snatch Mika away and hug him until he complained about being smothered.
Nadia was still trembling with the aftershocks of her emotional release.
The Maiden of Fate was holding the children, all of them crying and laughing and asking if they could see Mika, if they could touch him, if he was really, truly okay.
—
It was several minutes before Fauna looked up.
"Anya?" She scanned the area, her brow furrowing. "Anya, where are you? She was just here—"
The others turned, their relief giving way to confusion. Anya had been right beside them.
Where had she gone?
"Anya!" Yelena called out. "Anya, sweetheart, where are you?!"
No response. The excavation site was large, but not that large.
There were only so many places she could have gone.
"Maybe she went to get some air." The Maiden of War suggested, though her voice was uncertain. "She’s been through a lot. Maybe she just needs a moment alone."
But the Maiden of Fate was already running calculations in her mind.
And then her pupils shrank to pinpoints.
"No." She whispered. "No, no, no."
She didn’t explain. She just launched herself into the air, her wings blazing with starlight, and flew.
The other Battle Angels followed without hesitation.
—
The police station stood in the center of town, a large, imposing building that had been converted into a temporary holding facility for everyone involved in the hospital disaster.
The corrupt doctors who had built the substandard facility.
The officials who had siphoned the funds.
The administrators who had cut corners and falsified records.
All of them, along with their families and associates, had been gathered here to await judgment.
It was supposed to be safe. It was supposed to be the place where justice would be served.
But as the Battle Angels descended from the sky, they realized that justice had already arrived.
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