"Please just hurry up…." I groaned yet again.

Strangely, I was still able to talk despite everything being frozen, but just judging from how my internals felt mushy and numb, I knew activating skills would be impossible. It was almost like she defied existence itself just to let me talk while still somehow keeping me alive.

"You remind me of your mother… so soft and kind, but also ferocious when she needs to be. I'm sorry for taking her away from you when you were so young and vulnerable. If only I knew you would turn out so strong… I would have done it earlier," The woman chuckled.

As her words struck my brain like the clashing of a mallet hitting a base drum, I attempted to speak up, yet this time my mouth was frozen, only my brain working to process just what was happening.

"Don't worry, I'm still here to take back my shard… just, I felt a bit guilty for not telling you," She lightly chuckled yet again before placing her palm on the top of my head.

…

When I awoke, I found myself lying in my bed, back in my castle, on the afternoon of the same day I had done the ritual with my daughter. And since I was still on edge, I whipped the sheets off of me and climbed out of my room, drops of sweat soon running down my brow as I looked down the long corridors.

They entranced me for only but a second until I quickly caught my breath and dashed down the hallway, passing by the panicking servants who were wondering why I was acting like this. Yet, I had no time to worry about their opinions of me.

It didn't matter to me whether they thought I was crazy. It didn't matter to me whether they thought I was insane. Whether I had lost it only within a few hours… so I still ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran until all of my breath had escaped from my chest.

BAM

The door to my daughter's room swung wide open, nearly leaving a dent in the wall as it slammed through its own hinges. My eyes scoured the room, looking for my beloved one, who I was worried had been taken away from me.

"Mom? What's wrong?" A young teen asked, her long white glistening with sparkles of a rainbow and her beautiful pale pupils flashing with neon lights.

"Fuck… fuck… fuck…" I lightly sobbed, the built-up stress over the past few days slowly beginning to pour out. I collapsed to the ground whilst my servants, who had followed me, quickly ran over to check on me.

After helping me up to my feet and helping me to my daughter's massive bed, I dismissed all of the servants, only allowing my daughter to stay. I hugged her tightly. So tightly that she began to wince from the lack of oxygen. But I didn't care. I wanted to hug her until the end of time.

"M-Mom, you're making me worried. The ritual turned out fine… are you okay? D-Do you want me to call Mama over here? I can do that if you want," She slowly began to hug me back as I loosened up on my grip.

"No, that's fine…."

In the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a black shard just sitting on my daughter's nightstand. It was abyssal and black like the very outer reaches of space itself, where even planets hadn't formed, or any sign of life was extinguished by outside forces.

It was terrifying… just like that goddess.

…

(Ada POV)

As Mom slowly left my room, rubbing her red eyes, I let the servants take her back to get some more rest. And as I sat on my bed, I began to think about whether listening to my mother's wishes was the best for her.

Clearly, she needed a head to lean on, and I could, of course, be there for her, but if anybody knew her best… it would be her wife.

"Hi, mama?" I spoke into the automatically sent voice messaging system. She wasn't going to pick up the phone or even entertain the thought, so I knew leaving a voicemail was the best I could do. "It's me, Ada. Mother- er, Lucy is currently in the dumps right now for some reason. She won't tell me anything, but I feel if she could open up to anybody, it would be you. Thanks a lot. Love you. Hope to see you soon."

As I ended the call, allowing the voicemail to go through, I looked out the window t the slowly setting sun. Its gracefulness bellowed across the rice fields below, just barely illuminating the workers down below.

Wiping the sweat from their foreheads, they gazed over the setting sun, ticking the clock for them to pack up their work. They had done enough for the day, and just like the rising moon, their love for their slowly rekindling families, gathering at their small but cozy dinner tables, filled the atmosphere with its mellow brilliance.

"Fuck… I'm only a hindrance to her… I'm so useless…."

…

(Lucy POV)

Late that night, I found myself curled up in a ball on my mind, paranoyingly glancing around the room. The shadows almost seemed to swirl into that goddamn demonic figure which continued to curse my life over and over again.

She was the reason my life went in this direction. She was the reason everything happened. She was the reason my life turned out like this. I was like the monkey king dancing in the palm of Buddha, unable to escape its set-in-stone destiny.

And as I slowly backed further and further into the depths of my bed, a long but cold sweat trickled down my forehead, and I found myself shivering with fear. I had never been so scared like this than when I first lost my mother.

It felt like nothing was in my control, and within only a matter of seconds, everything could be gone with just a snap of an omniscient being's fingers.

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