Inside the fairy realm, in the tree''s room of the manor.


    "Dramia, Drania. I sense something unusual near the portal. You should take a look, since Karteira isn''t here to do it at the moment."


    Tiohr-nam''s Avatar opened her eyes, and notified the sisters about a potential outsider.


    "Is it trying to enter the realm? Is it another human?"


    In her mind, Dramia had the desire to ignore the one outside.


    "It might be, or maybe not. I have that feeling that you two should go. It might be a powerful individual, and the army is all but working properly right now."


    Drania laughed when she heard those words.


    "The mess Karteira left to us is certainly tough to deal with, though it''s not our problems if I had to be honest. Anyways, what do we do sis?"


    The situation had to be carefully thought about.


    "We could send Motirion like we did before?"


    "He is on paid vacation, let him rest."


    "I forgot about that. The amount of paperwork we had to do when we got back was all but easy to deal with. I had no time to pay attention to what happened until we finished."


    A little anger then took over Dramia, as she stared at her sister.


    "And for the love of the world, Drania! Do so paperwork too!"


    "But I don''t want to! It''s so boring, and I wanted to do other things."


    The most expressive of the sisters was also the laziest when work was concerned.


    "Drania!"


    *Cough*


    Sounds of a throat being cleared could be heard coming from Tiohr-nam, catching the attention of both sisters.


    "Maybe it is not the time for such a display of affection? Can you go and have a look at the portal? It should be opening in an hour or so."


    While returning to her indifferent gaze, Dramia finally agreed to do it.


    "If you need us to have a look, then we''ll go."


    "Right, you can count on us!"


    Tiohr-nam smiled at them, knowing full well who was currently waiting outside the realm''s entrance.


    ''If not for our bond, I wouldn''t have felt his presence. But since he has moved closer to me, I can feel our bond getting stronger too. Which means that this boy is coming back already.''


    ''The reason why is most likely with him, and it should be pretty important at that. Maybe it has something to do with that strange signature in his magic the other day? It was too sudden to be qualified, and I have no idea what could have caused that.''


    ''This will be a great reunion for these two, as they were extremely worried about him. And I will be seeing my little child too. I hope she improved like she desired to.''


    The excitement inside Tiohr-nam knowing that she would be able to hear new stories about Orion and Karteira made smile brightly.


    "Tiohr, why are you smiling?"


    "No reasons, really. You should get going now. You still have to go other there isn''t it?"


    With a frown the sisters looked at Tiohr-nam.


    "You know that we can fly other there in about two minutes right? Why are you trying to throw us out?"


    They couldn''t have expected the loud laugh that came out of her mouth.


    "Aaah- Yes, I had forgotten about that. Sorry."


    Noticeably not understanding what was so funny, they both stood up from their chair and walked to the door.


    "Anyway, we''re going. See you later, if nothing major happens."


    Dramia opened the door, while Drania smiled and waved at Tiohr-nam.


    The door closed after both of them walked outside, leaving the tree by itself.


    "I so wished to see the shocked expression on their faces when they will notice. I will ask Orion about it later."


    She truly was a mother to all.


    ~


    Orion opened his pocket watch.


    He had arrived at Dead White forest, and was waiting for the mist to appear, which indicated that the lake had appeared.


    "Too early, as I thought."


    With so much free time, he began to roam the forest, letting his feet carry him.


    ''This forest hasn''t changed. There is still no sign of life around here.''


    The only living being that looked normal was the green grass. Everything else was either not here, or dead.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ''Dead trees... what happened for such a thing to happen?''


    As he walked around the forest without any goal in mind, the time passed rather quickly. Before long, the mist began to cover the ground.


    ''Already?''


    Surprised by how his perception of time was compared to reality, he immediately walked toward the source of the mist, quickly arriving in a familiar lake.


    ''I''m on the other side.''


    He looked around him and noticed the small holes in the trunk of the trees in the area.


    ''This is where I took all of Drania''s water bullets. She sure has power. But as usual, it''s stamina that they don''t have.''


    Realizing that everyone''s major problem in their life was the lack of stamina, it made it perplexed.


    ''Why did Dylan teach me this, if no one else does it?''


    This was a good question. A question he will have the answer in the future.


    While thinking that, he slowly walked around the lake, toward the entrance. He quickly found it, since there was a huge pile of dirt sitting near a large stump, the place where Amelia created the temporary housing before leaving the forest.


    Looking at the sun, Orion notice that it was about to be time.


    ''I just realized... I need someone to open the portal on the other side.''


    ''Have I came too unprepared? How do I get in?''


    Pondering about his option, the water suddenly split open, reveling the inside of the fairy realm.


    ''Well, I guess that''s my queue.''


    Orion jumped without waiting, and disappeared when he fall down. He reappeared above the entrance, falling like he did before.


    Preparing for a rough landing, as he was about to fall in the stairs, he nullified the momentum of falling down the stairs by doing a rolling move the moment his feet touched one of the stairs.


    While rolling in mid-air, he disappeared once again, and popped on the ground with a roll.


    "That''s one way to enter."


    Hearing a familiar voice, he stood up and dusted his clothes.


    "Hi, I wasn''t expecting you two to greet me so early."


    The smile he had on his face was heartwarming.


    ''They are safe and well. I''m glad.''


    "Orion!"


    "Oof! Go easy on me."


    Drania, flying at full speed, tackled Orion who endured like a chief without falling over. He still had to kneel though.


    "Drania, couldn''t you wait a little?"


    "No!"


    The usually cheery sister had her face deeply stuck on Orion''s chest, and her arms glued around his sides.


    "How are you two doing? Did something happened?"


    For Dramia, who was usually cold toward everything, seeing Orion was a blessing. The same could be said for Drania, but the coldest sister was internally keeping her worries out of everyone''s ears.


    She walked to Orion with careful steps.


    "We''re fine."


    Noticing that her sister was silently enduring the pain, Drania made some space for her sister.


    "But... we had to deal with something rather... painful."


    "I see."


    Dramia looked down, and kneeled in front of Orion. He smiled warmly at her, while extending his hand.


    "It''s good to see you."


    "Same for me, good to see you both being fine."


    In the same way he did to everyone, Orion caressed her hair, while also caressing Drania''s. Their green hair was as silky as ever.


    They remained like this for a few minutes. Until the portal closed to be precise.


    "Wait! Where are Amelia and Karteira?"


    Drania was the first to realize that Orion came alone.


    "You''re right, I don''t see them. Don''t tell me? Did something happen to them?"


    Great anxiety showed on their face. In an instant, the worst scenarios played in their mind.


    But Orion was fast to appease the worries they had.


    "They''re fine, don''t worry. I''ll get them later."


    "Later?"


    Getting caught by his weird choice of words, when she knew the portal was closed, Dramia tried to learn more, but he had other plans.


    "Let''s move. I need to talk to Tiohr-nam about multiple things. Your answer is part of it."


    ~


    "Orion, it is pleasure to see you once again."


    The head of the Avatar bowed slightly down the moment she saw Orion.


    "The same could be said from me. You look healthier and younger than I remember."


    Having recovered most of her stored magic from siphoning Orion''s massive overflow of energy, she was almost back to her past form.


    "Your leaves are shinier than before too. You really do bear the name of Tree of Life."


    "Why all those compliment all of the sudden?"


    "I simply stated what I thought. Anyway, I came back because I have an important discussion I need to have with you."


    Orion took a chair and sat in front of the Avatar.


    The younger Avatar, who looked around her mid-thirties now, had recovered the luster she had previously lost. Her hair had a healthier green to them, with no more grey parts.


    Her wrinkles completely disappeared too, giving the beautiful woman even more impact.


    But, it was only a physical form made to talk with the other beings. As a tree, she had no other way to communicate.


    "That''s what I expect when I felt your presence close to the realm."


    The sisters suddenly walked in front of Orion and stared at Tiohr-nam.


    "You knew it, so why did you not told us about his coming? "


    "Yes! Do you know how surprised we were?"


    But to Tiohr-nam, that was music to her ears.


    "That is the reason why I kept quiet. You treasure the friendship you have with him, so why would I do something as brutish as to spoil the good thing? Do you think it would have been as impactful if you knew beforehand?"


    "Ugh!"


    No counter argument could be made for that. She was right, they were incredibly happy to see Orion when he stood outside of the realm.


    And it would have definitely been different if they were prepared to greet him, because they would have managed to hide their feelings. Well, mostly Dramia.


    "That stings."


    Orion lightly joked, as the sisters instantly lost the argument. To alleviate their feelings, he changed the subject.


    "I managed to create that new element."


    The three instantly looked at him.


    "We know. Tiohr felt it and told us. I can''t believe you made it not long after leaving our sight."


    "What is it? Tell me, what element is it?!"


    Orion opened his hand and showed the void element to them.


    "I called it the ''void'' element. I managed to fuse the light and dark element thanks to a book that had precious notions written inside."


    "Is that what you used when you came in the realm? Tiohr, he entered without our help, and he seemed to teleport around as if space wasn''t existent to him."


    "He jumped and vanished, before appearing above the entrance! And then, woosh! He jumped from the stairs and before we understood anything, he rolled on the ground next to us!"


    If Orion hadn''t placed the most trust in them, he wouldn''t have explained, but here he was, not even thinking about hiding details.


    "That was ''Spacial Shift'', an ability that lets me move across portal only me can see. I can only place a portal where I can see with this ability, and it is incredibly exhausting to use."


    Orion then began to detail what his ability was.


    It didn''t take long for Tiohr-nam to understand. In fact, it was pretty similar to someone she knew.


    "You can freely move between spaces, and even create another world. You truly are something else. Who would have thought that time and space would even bend to your will."


    But Orion shook his head.


    "They do not bend to my will. If so, I wouldn''t be the same person anymore. And there is also that weird individual that managed to spy on me while I was inside Horizon."


    "..."


    Tiohr-nam thought for a second, and inadvertently and quietly blurted out a name, that Orion didn''t miss.


    "That is most likely Enri-Ann. So she is still alive."


    "Tiohr, what did you say?"


    Dramia asked as she did not hear it, leading Tiohr-nam to come back to reality.


    "Nothing you need to be concerned about. It is a matter between Remnants."


    "Alright."


    She knew that the matters between Remnants was something no one could deal with.


    ''Enri-Ann. I should remember this name.''


    But it wasn''t the same for Orion. If this Remnant was a threat, he would deal with it accordingly.


    "So, is this it about the void element?"


    Orion looked back at the Avatar.


    "From what I managed to discover about it, yes."


    "Then, tell me, why did you come back. I''m it wasn''t to tell us about that new element."


    He prepared himself, and sighed.


    "Talking about the void element was necessary to explain to you the problem."


    "You see, I''ve encountered the Miasma, and almost died from it."


    Silence fell in the room, with an unusual pressure being exerted from the Tree of Life.