TWO WEEKS LATER

  Grimm descended the stairs into the living room, a scroll in hand and a calmness in his steps.

  “Hey, kid,”

  his voice soft and gentle

  Damon, hunched over the center table and painting with surprising focus, paused mid-stroke. “Yh?” he answered casually.

  “I need you to go give something to someone... and pick something up for me,” Grimm said, rolling the scroll tighter in his hand.

  Damon immediately stood, folding his painting with practiced care. “May I ask where?”

  “Not too far,” Grimm replied. “Just a little run. I mean... you three still have, what, about two weeks left before your big world-exploring adventure?”

  “Yh, all thanks to Zephyr,” Damon said, grabbing his coat.

  “Though I’m not too bothered, Time definitely seems to be flying fast—and I’ve been training a lot, not just me, Gwen seems to be at it more than most, apparently what Zephyr said really got to her. so it helps.”

  Grimm chuckled a bit but said nothing, his mind drifting back to how it all happened two weeks ago.

  _______________________________________________

  Yup, that's pretty much it," Damon said with a shrug.

  "Well then, I definitely vote realms," Gwen chimed in with a grin, "what about you, Damon?." She asked.

  "Oh, I decided on realms a long time ago." Damon added his tone turning dead serious as he rolled up the map. "There's no way I'm waiting around." he said, resolve burning in his eyes.

  _______________________________________________

  "We can't," Zephyr said bluntly.

  Gwen whipped around, clearly pissed. "What do you mean, we can't?" she snapped.

  "I mean..." Zephyr paused. "First off, we have NO idea where to even begin. Yeah, we have the map, but where are we supposed to start? There are, like, a billion places. Do you even realize how massive this world is?"

  "It’s about 762.35 quadrillion cubic kilometers in volume and 1.39 million kilometers in diameter," Damon chimed in instantly, as if he'd been waiting for that moment.

  Zephyr blinked confusingly. "Okay... like, NO ONE needed to know that," he said, clearly unamused.

  "And secondly," he continued, "look at us—we're literally screaming 'unprepared.' Who knows what kind of mess we might stumble into out there?"

  Gwen’s fire dimmed slightly, her frown deepening.

  "One month," Zephyr muttered. "One month is all I’m asking."

  His gaze softened for a moment. "I mean... it’s not for me. It's for all three of us. We definitely need it."

  "Okay, so what are we going to be doing in this one month?" Gwen asked, her tone skeptical. "Are we gonna go searching for divine knowledge, honing our skills, learning the ART of deception?" she added in a dramatic, over-the-top movie-voice.

  Zephyr's eyes narrowed, considering her words "I' I mean if that's what you want, you could definitely go ahead, it’s actually a pretty solid idea."

  A sly grin spreading across his face, as though he'd just hit the jackpot.

  "I mean, you’re always charging into danger, wanting to knock out the bad guys, right?" His tone turned mock-serious.

  "Wouldn’t it be better if you could take them down twice as fast and break their bones twice as quickly when you do?"

  Gwen paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, that's a really solid deal. I’m in," she said, no hesitation in her voice.

  Zephyr let out a quiet sigh of relief, thinking to himself, Good thing she’s an idiot. Now, onto the other idiot. His gaze shifted toward Damon.

  "But only for one month," Gwen added, her finger pointed firmly at him, as though making a deal.

  Zephyr flinched, his eyes flicking toward her finger, then gently nudged it aside before looking back at Damon. "And don’t you..."

  "Oh, no worries," Damon interrupted, cutting him off. "I could wait."

  Zephyr blinked, letting out an inward sigh. Good thing he said that... because I had no idea what I was gonna say.

  Zephyr turned toward Grimm, about to speak, but froze. "Hey, you—" he called out.

  The space where Grimm had been sitting was empty.

  Grimm had already gone—had left without any of them noticing.

  _______________________________________________

  A small smile curled on Grimm's lips as the reality of the present came rushing back.

  "How did you even know all that?" Damon asked, raising an eyebrow. "You left like halfway through."

  Grimm smiled. "A true man never reveals his secrets."

  Damon narrowed his eyes. "For an old man, you act WAY more childish than I do."

  Grimm chuckled lightly.

  "Soooo, where’s the place I’m supposed to go to?" Damon asked, eager to move forward.

  "Aeloria's Mist," Grimm said with a grand gesture, his tone as if revealing something magnificent. "Quite a beautiful place, located beneath Valtoria."

  Then he leaned in closer, lowering his voice like he was sharing a secret. "I hear it’s even more beautiful than Valtoria."

  Damon nodded absently. "Sure..." Then his eyes suddenly widened. "Can I ask Gwen to tag along? She’s been itching for an adventure."

  Grimm’s grin widened. "Oh, there’s no need for that."

  "And why's that?" Damon asked, casually curious.

  "Oh, she’s already going," Grimm replied.

  A second of silence passed as Damon’s face twisted in confusion.

  "She saw me heading downstairs," Grimm explained. "Asked where I was going. When I told her I was about to send you on an errand, she yelled, ‘Zephyr, get ready, we’re leaving soon!’—without even knowing where I was sending you."

  Damon’s nodded frantically "Oh yh, That definitely sounds like Gwen."

  Grimm leaned back, arms folded, that usual calm smirk on his face. "She’ll be here any second—"

  WHAM!

  Gwen landed with a flourish at the bottom of the stairs, dragging a groggy Zephyr behind her like luggage.

  "—now," Grimm finished, still smiling.

  "Why am I going exactly," Zephyr asked, his voice low and literally saying *I absolutely don't want to go.

  "You.. uhhmm, I mean, you don’t really have to if you don’t want to—" Damon started calmly.

  "Nobody cares what you want, Zephyr," Gwen interrupted, looking directly at Zephyr.

  Damon chuckled silently.

  Gwen then turned to Damon. "You're holding up the line here," she said, gripping Zephyr by the collar while his entire soul looked like it wanted to escape. "Zephyr’s losing his tenacity."

  "I had zero tenacity to begin with," Zephyr muttered, his voice flat and hopeless.

  "I'll be down in five," Damon said, already heading off.

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  "Well, hurry up," Gwen called after him. "Zephyr won’t last forever, and we might have to leave our fallen comrade behind."

  "Please do," Zephyr said, a bit too sincerely this time.

  "Never," Gwen declared. "We're in this together."

  And just a few moments into Gwen nagging Zephyr, Damon came back downstairs, a large bag slung over his shoulder.

  "Whoa, that’s big," Gwen gasped, finally letting go of Zephyr's collar.

  "It’s just the essentials," Damon replied calmly.

  "What, are we living there now?" She said, circling him with a suspicious look. "That looks heavy. Maybe I should carry it."

  "Nah, I’m good," Damon said with a grin. "I’m pretty strong too, y’know."

  Then, without a word, Zephyr casually teleported behind Damon—despite being only a few steps away—and zipped a small pocket on the back of the bag.

  Damon turned slightly, clearly surprised. "What are you—?"

  "Your zipper was open," Zephyr said calmly, like it was the most serious duty in the world.

  "Oh. We'll, thank you," Damon said, smiling, like this was totally normal.

  Gwen, however, stood frozen—her face a mix of skepticism and secondhand embarrassment as she stared at both of them.

  "...Wha—" she managed, her voice echoing awkwardly through the quiet room.

  "Huh?" Zephyr blinked, genuinely confused by her reaction.

  "That was pretty sus, dude," Gwen muttered, narrowing her eyes.

  Zephyr though being unfazed by her comment was obviously confused, "Moron." He called, abdruptly.

  Damon strolled past Gwen—still mid-tease with Zephyr—and approached Grimm, who stood in his usual quiet corner with a smile tugging at his lips.

  Then, without a word, a portal shimmered open beside him, immediately grabbing Gwen’s and Zephyr’s attention.

  “This’ll take you as close to Aeloria as possible,” Grimm said, motioning to the portal. “It’s surrounded by a protective mist, so I can’t get you directly inside. I could force it…it'll probably take me around a minute or two,” he added with a sly grin.

  “Then why didn’t you just do it earlier?” Damon asked, clearly confused.

  Grimm glanced off to the side. “Because... it takes time,” he said.

  “I literally went upstairs for a few minutes,” Damon said flatly. “You HAD time.”

  Grimm looked around, silent.

  “You can just do it now,” Damon yelled, his voice lifting slightly.

  Grimm hesitated, then quickly added, “It’ll drain my stamina. Obviously.”

  Damon exhaled deeply. “You always do this.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Grimm said with mock innocence.

  Then from behind, Gwen’s voice rang out, “Where’s the fun in arriving directly anyway?” Without warning, she grabbed Zephyr and leapt through the portal with him

  Grimm smiled wider, pointing toward the portal. Damon rolled his eyes and stepped forward—but just as he was about to enter, Grimm stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

  “Oh and one more thing,” he said. “You’re looking for a witch—Seraphine Nightmoor.”

  Damon blinked. “That’s... a name.”

  “Oh, she lives up to it,” Grimm said. “Head for the mainland once you’re through. You’ll find her near the cliffs. Impossible to miss—trust me.”

  Damon gave a half-smile, then finally stepped through the portal.

  “Oh, and be careful, she’s very—” Grimm called out, but the portal closed with a hum before he could finish, “—tricky,” he said to himself.

  He stood there for a moment, paused in thought… then shrugged.

  “Nah. They’ll figure it out.”

  As Gwen and the others landed out of the portal, their gaze fell upon a vast, glowing mist--right in front of them. So thick, you couldn’t even see the mist behind the mist behind the mist in front of the mist.

  Like a never-ending wall of fog.

  “So we step through?” Gwen asked with a smirk.

  “We might get separated,” Damon replied calmly. “And that might be bad, since we’ve never been here before. No clue where we’d meet up. And knowing Zephyr, he’ll never agree to hold hands.” He whispered the last part and glanced at Zephyr with a side-eye ,who was, unsurprisingly, not listening.

  Zephyr stretched out his palm. With a deep breath, he released a massive burst of wind—SPIRIT DRIVE.

  The gust tore through the air with impossible speed, the backlash whipping Zephyr’s coat and long mane behind him like a storm. It felt almost unreal.

  The wind tore into the mist—only for the fog to regenerate instantly, like it was never there in the first place.

  Damon’s eyes widened. “That was so cool.”

  Gwen grinned. “Oh yeah, he does that all the time, sometimes to show off. Against guards. Against boulders. Against… a lot of things, actually. You ever seen a grown man crash into another set of grown men like a bowling ball? Yep, Zephyr does that. she added with a proud smile—like a mom bragging about her overpowered kid.

  "It's no use," Zephyr said, pulling his loose hair strands backwards. "I guess we have to step through then, Looking at the circumstances, we don't know what's at the other end of the mist." Zephyr then looked at Damon and Gwen.

  "Whoever comes out first, should wait for other," then, his gaze snapped only focused on Gwen. "unless it's NECESSARY to move."

  Gwen blinked. “Why are you looking at me?”

  Zephyr’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

  Gwen ignored him completely and turned to Damon. “Let’s see who makes it out the other side first.”

  And then in a flash, Gwen and Damon bolted in. Zephyr let out a deep sigh and followed after them.

  ---

  Inside the mist…

  Gwen halted as she noticed swift shadows darting all around her. Turning slowly, she realized four shadowy humanoid figures had surrounded her.

  She didn’t sense any aura, but she kept her guard up.

  They didn’t move. They just stood around her—silent.

  So she straightened up and continued walking. Strangely, the four shadows followed her, always maintaining the same distance. Then she stopped. Her face hardened—not at the creatures, but at the sudden realization:

  “…Wait. Was I even walking straight?”

  “Oh come on!” she yelled into the fog.

  ---

  Zephyr faced something similar, though the figures all stood in front of him instead of surrounding him.

  “I knew this would happen sooner or later,” Zephyr muttered. Taking a deep breath, he suddenly vanished and reappeared right in front of one of the shadows, ready to strike—only to fall straight into a puddle of water.

  The mist was thick, but it was clearly water.

  He teleported a few steps back instantly. The shadowy figures hadn’t moved. Yet still the same distance away.

  Zephyr narrowed his eyes. “Okay… what’s your deal?” he asked.

  No response.

  He didn’t bother asking again. He walked forward, uneasy at the way the shadows seemed to walk backwards just to keep watching him. Then he stopped too.

  “…Wait. Which way was forward again?”

  ---

  Damon's turn.

  He noticed the shadows, but unlike the others—they approached him.

  He raised his guard instantly. But what shook him was that his premonition—his sixth sense—didn’t react at all.

  They passed through him.

  A cold chill ran through his body. He spun around. They were gone. No trace.

  And ahead of him—the mist had cleared.

  A forest greeted him. So he walked out.

  ---

  Gwen was sitting on a chopped tree stump, arms crossed.

  “Took you long enough,” she said.

  “I didn’t think it was that long,” Damon replied. “Felt like I just walked in and walked out.”

  “It’s been like thirty minutes,” Gwen deadpanned.

  “Wow, that long, huh.” Damon looked around. “Where’s Zephyr?”

  “He’s not out yet,” Gwen said. “He’s probably dead,” she added casually, nodding to herself.

  Damon chuckled. “We should wait. I don’t think he’s dead yet.”

  “If you say so,” Gwen shrugged, patting the tree stump beside her.

  Time passed.

  Eight hours, to be exact.

  “Told you. He’s dead,” Gwen said, no longer casual—just done.

  Damon got up, gathered firewood, and lit a fire. They sat quietly.

  A strong, cold wind blew through. Damon took off his coat and draped it over Gwen.

  “I know you probably don’t need it,” he said with a smile.

  “Yep. I literally have a shirt tied around my waist,” Gwen replied dryly.

  Damon’s smile deepened. “I know.”

  Another hour passed.

  “Aaaaaaaaaagh, I can’t take it anymore!” Gwen exploded. “It’s probably like 9PM and he’s STILL not here! If he’s dead, I swear—I’ll spend my entire life searching for a way to bring him back JUST so I can kill him myself!”

  “We should rest,” Damon said, lying back on the dry forest floor. “He’ll be fine. Zephyr always finds a way.”

  Gwen didn’t argue. She huffed, pulled on Damon’s jacket, and lay beside him, arms crossed, muttering to herself.

  Time passed. The fire burned low. The woods were still.

  Damon’s breathing slowed, his eyes beginning to close.

  Then—

  Gwen sat up slowly.

  Her movements were silent. Too silent.

  She reached down into her boot… and pulled out a knife.

  She stood over Damon.

  “I’ve always hated you,” she whispered.

  And drove the blade downward—

  But she suddenly froze mid-motion, like an invisible hand had gripped her from all sides. Suspended.

  Damon opened his eyes, completely unfazed.

  “Seriously?” he said flatly. “That was a pathetic act.”

  His eyes glowed faintly, and the fake Gwen hovered upward, caught in a telekinetic grip.

  “You gave yourself away the moment I stepped out and saw you sitting there. Gwen wouldn’t wait calmly—especially not then for nine hours. She’d be pacing, yelling, punching trees. And ‘I’ve always hated you?’”

  He raised an eyebrow. “What is this, bad theater?”

  The impostor twitched.

  Her features began to glitch. Expression warping. Eyes shifting into an unnatural hue. Her mouth twisted oddly, like a broken puppet being forced to smile.

  Then the forest around them shimmered. Colors bled out like wet ink. The trees blinked out of existence. The fire collapsed into smoke… then into mist.

  All of it—an illusion.

  Only the impostor remained.

  Still wearing Gwen’s face.

  “Oh. The forest wasn’t real?” Damon blinked. “Didn’t see that one coming.”

  He clenched his fist. The grip tightened. The fake Gwen let out a strangled groan as her illusion unraveled completely.

  Damon released her.

  She dropped, landed hard—and immediately tried to bolt.

  But Damon’s telekinesis yanked her back, suspended mid-air again.

  And then—she began to shrink.

  Limbs compressing. Clothes morphing. Her face softened until what hovered in front of him was a child. No taller than 104 cm.

  In shock, Damon’s power loosened. She slipped from his hold and fell to the ground.

  And immediately—

  She started bawling. Loud, hiccupping sobs.

  “Wait—wait, please stop crying,” Damon said, scrambling to pick her up. “I—uh—okay, just breathe.”

  He lifted her off the ground without a second thought, carrying her in his arms like she hadn’t just tried to stab him a second ago.

  The tiny shapeshifter curled up in his arms, hiccupping through snot and tears, a complete emotional meltdown in progress.

  After she had calmed down just a little bit, Damon set her down, wiping tears off her eyes.

  "I'm sorry," she said. Her small body trembled. She looked no older than six. Her snow-white hair clung to her face, matted with mist. Her eyes—plain white, no pupils—glowed faintly, but not with power. With fear. Her skin had a faint shimmer, like moonlight reflecting off water, and faint runes pulsed gently across her collarbones, fading in and out like breath.

  Damon patted her on the head slightly, "Hey, it's no worry."

  “I didn’t mean to,” she said, her voice cracking between hiccups. “They always come to take from us. We’ve protected ourselves for years through the mist… but they still find a way. Only just so they could take.”

  She sniffled, trembling. “They take our food. Our people. The ones who fight back are killed instantly. Just left there like they never mattered.”

  Damon’s chest tightened.

  "You happy now, Demon Lord?" he thought bitterly. "Children dying like it’s nothing."

  He exhaled slowly, forcing a gentle smile. Then, he picked her up again and placed her carefully on his shoulder.

  “Hey,” he said softly. “You were very brave, today. What's your name?”

  "Velira" she said as she wrapped her small arms loosely around his head for balance, still sniffling, and without a word… pointed through the mist.

  And led him out.

  ght bitterly. "Children dying like it’s nothing."

  He exhaled slowly, forcing a gentle smile. Then, he picked her up again and placed her carefully on his shoulder.

  “Hey,” he said softly. “You were very brave, today. What's your name?”

  "Velira" she said as she wrapped her small arms loosely around his head for balance, still sniffling, and without a word… pointed through the mist.

  And led him out.