Ch 231: Home sweet home.

"Thank God it's finally over." sighed Baek Yoonho when the gate finally closed.

"Too bad it's over." grinned Akeno. "I was gaining some serious experience, you know? Over fifty levels today! Although most of those came from killing Antares."

"Over a million monsters came out of that gate, at a conservative estimate, and you are still not satisfied?" asked the redhead with an incredulous laugh.

"Yes. I do not even want to ask Jinah how many levels she gained with that tactic of hers." grinned Akeno.

Baek could only nod, looking at Jinah, smugly chatting with her friends.

Antares had made sure that all of his dragons would appear within the first ten minutes of the invasion. It was a logical move to bring in the heavy hitters first, to secure the gate's surroundings and break the spine of any resistance.

But when Jinah achieved total air supremacy, she ordered her hundreds of Shadow Dragons to form a huge conga line, looping around the gate's entrance, and from then on, most of the monsters died to one Dragon Breath after another almost as soon as they emerged from the gate.

If not for the corpses being burned to ashes as well, the gate would have been clogged in short order.

Still, there were many monsters, fast enough or lucky enough, who escaped the barrage, and Jinah had to unsummon most of her ground troops to save up on mana. The Hunters didn't have time to slack off.

After hours of fighting, fatigue had started becoming a major concern for most of them. Thankfully, Hunters from all around the world had started showing up, by helicopters or by executing paradrops from military cargo planes, bolstering their numbers to close to two thousand and allowing them to rotate and take breaks. The Korean S-rankers had been among the last to come, due to the distance they had to travel.

"I have received confirmation from the Goddess that no more gates will open." said Akeno. "What will you do now, guild master?"

"I had a career as a marketing director, ten years ago. It will be a tough sell to find a job when I spent a decade in a completely different field, but I'll manage. Besides, it's not like I risk being homeless. Those years have been very profitable for me, you know?"

"Yes. It is the lower ranked Hunters who will have more trouble." sighed Akeno.

"Everyone's been healed!" smiled Gina as she walked closer.

"Thank you, Gina. Good job." nodded Akeno. "Please spread the word. Everyone has three days to say goodbye to their relatives or take mementos. Then we'll go to New Zealand to deal with the Demonic Pillar, and we will leave this world, likely never coming back."

"Yes. I'll tell everyone." nodded Gina.

"It's too bad you need to leave, Akeno." sighed Baek. "You are the world's most popular person right now. They'll probably make statues of you and your companions."

"I would rather they make statues of Lilith-sama." shrugged Akeno.

"Hard to make statues of an elusive being you never saw. We have photos and footage of you, but not of your Goddess."

Akeno nodded, not really interested in the matter. She was looking forward to returning to Chaldea. There were many people over there she missed, and she wanted to take a short break from the endless training and fighting. At least, that kind of training.

…

Olga-Marie entered the Rayshift room and walked to Mayumi.

"Has the cafeteria been prepared?"

"Yes, Director. We're ready on that side." smiled Mayumi.

"Thank you, Mayumi. You are very reliable." nodded Olga-Marie.

"I have experience being in charge of various things. How is Gaia?"

"Still in a coma, but there's some improvement compared to when she was brought here. She doesn't look anymore like she's about to disappear, for one thing. Alaya estimates that she will regain awareness after we collect about half of the world fragments."

"I'm glad." nodded Mayumi. "We also prepared rooms for thirty people. Hopefully ,it will be enough."

"Knowing Akeno, I'm not certain." frowned Olga-Marie.

The growth of population in Chaldea had been… explosive, and showed no signs of slowing down. Just two days before, the team led by Takina and Chisato had returned, bringing with them no less than thirty-four new people with them. She already had to scold that girl named Kuroko, who acted like an old man in a paradise full of beautiful girls. This one was going to be a troublemaker worse than this slacker Gudako.

And this Misaki Shokuhou was going to be trouble as well once she was done familiarizing herself with the place, she could sense it. Most of the newcomers from that group were part of her clique.

It had been a relief when Bell, Artoria and Lancelot returned from their timeline without bringing any newcomers, and when Sakura, Darkness and Medea returned with only four. Although one was an unwilling captive, a female scientist they had taken as prize while looting a hostile lab. At least some people hadn't lost their common sense and played catch-them-all with every pretty girl crossing their path.

Still, the Rayshift room was now too small for everyone to welcome the returning teams, and most people waited in the cafeteria to celebrate.

Alaya appeared beside them.

"Akeno's group destroyed their Demonic Pillar. Type: Moon is retrieving them."

"Good." nodded Olga-Marie.

They waited a few seconds as the Rayshift device powered up, and in a flash, Akeno, Jeanne, Alter, and thirteen women Olga-Marie didn't know appeared.

She thought that thirteen wasn't too bad and stepped forward.

"Welcome back, everyone."

"Thank you, Director. It's good to be back." smiled Akeno before she proceeded to introduce everyone.

With this done, they moved to the cafeteria and started celebrating their return and tell in details about their adventures.

"How is the situation now?" asked Akeno to Olga-Marie when the party drew to a close, and people started leaving.

"The team led by Takina and Chisato, and the one led by Sakura have returned very recently. There are many people waiting for Soul Contracts to sign. Gudako's team is aware of the Demonic Pillar's location, but they will need a few more weeks to reach it. Rin's team is still away, and Bell left for another timeline two weeks ago with Beowulf and Genos."

"So there's only three teams currently on the field?"

"Yes. But there will be more very soon. Sakura only wanted to see you for a day or two before leaving for the next timeline, and Chisato and Takina are only waiting for the opportunity for Chisato to sign a Soul Contract. Hitomi wants to lead a team as well, after you enhance her."

"I do not mind, as long as she leaves with at least two enhanced Servants." nodded Akeno.

"Sakura's team also brought back with them a young woman they captured in a raid. A researcher specializing in genetics, who studied the Apocalypse virus and decided to shoot at Sakura rather than flee. Sakura found her pretty and decided that instead of killing her, she would make a good gift for you and Noah. We locked her in a room for now."

"I see. I'll pay her a visit soon."

Then she suddenly smiled before talking in a low voice.

"How about we continue this conversation in your quarters… Marie?"

Olga-Marie blushed slightly as she looked around. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and didn't pay them much attention. She had no illusion that them leaving together would be noticed, though.

But she wanted it. Really wanted it. It had been so long.

"…Yes, that… would be a good idea." nodded Olga-Marie, walking out of the cafeteria, Akeno following her.

Her heart was beating fast when she opened the door of her quarters and invited Akeno in. She was about to offer Akeno a drink when she saw Akeno put a Sanctuary on her desk, and she inspired sharply.

Akeno smiled as she teleported them both inside a bedroom in the house, and slowly walked closer to Olga-Marie.

"Have you been a good girl, Marie?" seductively asked Akeno.

"…I …have been good. Just how much Charisma do you have? I feel like drowning in your eyes." complained Olga-Marie.

"…Two hundred and nine, if I include the boost from Noah." frowned Akeno.

"Is that an issue?"

"When you smile at me this way… it makes me feel like I can't oppose you."

"There's actually a ring I can buy to tone down the effect of my Charisma. Maybe it will prove necessary. But not right now. Feel free to stare into my eyes as much as you want." grinned Akeno, starting to remove Olga-Marie's frilly bow.

Olga-Marie stifled a moan as Akeno deliberately brushed her hands against her breasts as she opened her vest and revealed the leather breast harness under it.

"I had noticed that your breasts were significantly larger than the last time I saw you. It is good. You have followed mine and Takina's instructions like a good girl."

Akeno gently kneaded her breasts

"…Yes." moaned Olga-Marie.

"You do not need to wear the harness anymore. They are perfect now. But have you been a good girl down there as well?" smirked Akeno as she kept slowly stripping Olga-Marie.

"It has been hard… I need it so much…"

"Have you cheated even once? Have you transferred your belt into a spatial ring to remove it and pleasure yourself?"

"No. I didn't cheat." weakly said Olga-Marie, starting to pant. Akeno had removed her skirt and bra along with the harness, and she was now only wearing her pumps, white stockings, and the chastity belt.

"No, who?" asked Akeno, gently rubbing Olga-Marie's thighs near her crotch.

"No, Mistress."

"Better."

"Mistress… please…" moaned Olga-Marie.

"Takina and Chisato returned two days ago, right? Did Takina pay you a visit?"

"No, Mistress."

Akeno nodded, finishing with stripping Olga-Marie of everything but the belt.

"I guess she was busy. So, with Medb being away, when was the last time you got an orgasm?"

"About… three months ago. Just before Takina left for the timeline she just returned from." admitted Olga-Marie, growing desperate to rub her breasts as Akeno hugged her from behind.

"Really?" asked Akeno, surprised.

"Medb… she teased me a lot, but she never removed the belt…" breathed out Olga-Marie.

"Really? Looks like she's slipping. I will need to teach her a lesson. But back to you." purred Akeno, and Olga-Marie shuddered.

"I will remove the belt, my needy pet, but you aren't allowed to cum just yet, understand? I have an outfit for you to wear. Keep being a good girl, and I promise you, I will thoroughly scratch that itch of yours."

"Yes, Mistress." said Olga-Marie, not bothering to hide the eagerness in her voice.

She clasped her hands behind her back to better fight the urge to touch herself as Akeno touched the chastity belt, and Olga-Marie felt it loosen around her hips. Akeno slowly pushed it down, and the white-haired girl sighed when the two invaders slipped out of her body. She almost had an orgasm right here and then.

"Lift your left leg, Marie." said Akeno, taking from her inventory a pair of purple latex stockings.

Olga-Marie obeyed, placing her hands on Akeno's shoulders for support.

"While I am dressing you up, Marie, why don't you tell me what Medb did to you exactly?"

"Yes, Mistress." nodded Olga-Marie, guessing that Medb would have her reckoning, and enjoying the idea a lot. For an instant, she felt an urge to exaggerate her deeds, but then she remembered that Akeno would know, and she would make her regret it.

"She came to see me two or three times a week. She used me to bring her pleasure, but never removed the belt. She claimed I would be more eager to please her if I was kept horny."

"I do not necessarily disagree with her reasoning." frowned Akeno as her hands kept working. "But only Noah and I are allowed to force that kind of things on someone who doesn't desire to be kept in denial. And even so, we make sure the person being denied enjoys it, or we let her cum at least once in a while."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Did you enjoy it when she refused you? Be honest."

"A little part of me did." admitted Olga-Marie. "But it was still too harsh!"

"I agree with you. Well, I may have taught Medb to enjoy submission, but she's still a sadist deep inside. It seems she will need regular discipline lessons from now on, if she can't be trusted with authority over others. And when she returns from her timeline, you will do to her what she did to you. You will keep her in chastity and make her pleasure you and leave unsatisfied, for three months."

"Yes! Ahem, I mean yes, thank you, Mistress." said Olga-Marie.

After the stockings came long latex gloves of the same color, then a sleeveless latex top covering her back and torso from neck to midriff, aside from her breasts that protruded from cutouts.

Had Jeanne been present, she would immediately have recognized the same style of outfits that Akeno had used on Akari, Kanae and Mari when she trained them.

Akeno fastened a thick black leather collar around Olga-Marie's neck, and black leather cuffs around her wrists and ankles.

"Follow me, Marie." ordered Akeno, leading her to a corner of the room was a large mirror was fixed on the wall.

Olga-Marie stared at her reflection. The fetish latex outfit and the larger breasts she still had some difficulty adjusting to, made her look unbelievably alluring. Dolled up and with her blushing face, she looked ready, no, eager to serve.

"You look delicious, Marie. And now, I am going to eat you up." grinned Akeno, starting to remove her own clothes.

A moan escaped Olga-Marie as she moved to the bed. At last, after months of being denied, she was going to cum.

…

"Good day. You look like you two had a tiring night." smiled Takina, as she and Chisato took seats besides Akeno and Olga-Marie.

"Hi, Takina, Chisato. I'm fine." grinned Akeno. "The Director on the other hand…"

"I regret nothing." said Olga-Marie with a slight blush, with bags under the eyes.

"This reminds me…" Akeno took her smartphone and called someone.

"Hi, Mash. How are you doing?"

"We're fine, Mistress." replied Mash in a good mood.

"I need to speak to you in private."

"A moment, please… It's fine, I walked away from the others. We're on our way to the Demonic Pillar, ETA two weeks. It's a medieval world after all."

"Yes." said Akeno as she looked around, checking to be sure only Takina, Chisato and Olga-Marie could hear.

"Mash, I want you to take Medb aside and put her in a chastity belt. You will have a remote and tease her a lot when there's no emergency. But you won't let her cum at all, and you can tell her that we will ask if she removed it upon her return, so she better not try to cheat."

"Oh. Has she been a bad slave girl?"

"Yes. She's looking at three months of denial play after you all come back. She will know exactly why."

"I wouldn't want to be in her shoes. And at the same time, I kind of want to." wistfully said Mash.

Alaya appeared near the table, and Akeno raised an eyebrow.

"I'll call you later, Mash, something came up. Good luck."

"Yes, goodbye, Mistress."

"Hello, Alaya. Is there any issue?" asked Olga-Marie.

"A suggestion. Over half of the new personnel recruited in the timelines isn't enhanced by Soul Contracts. This is counter-productive when it forces Akeno, the only provider of those Contracts, to delay her intervention to the next timeline. It would be more efficient if you industrialized the process. You should have enough tools and agents willing to help to do it."

"…What are you suggesting, Alaya?" frowned Akeno. "That I should order all those who already swore loyalty to Noah or me to essentially restrain those who haven't signed contracts yet and start training them all simultaneously?"

"Yes."

"... Have you detected a great threat or something that would justify such a move? Something that the current roster of contractors would not be sufficient to deal with?"

"No." replied Alaya.

"Then I won't do it. I understand why you are making this suggestion, if all you care about is the result, but this is a deeply personal process, one that works better when it is tailored to each individual. I am sure you observed my methods, and how I constantly pay attention to the trainees' reactions and adapt on the fly. This isn't just a matter of inflicting sexual tease and torment to dozens of women until they fall."

"…I do not really understand, but I do not have any urgent reason to override you." said Alaya, disappearing.

"I can see Alaya's point, from a cold logical perspective, but this isn't chickens we are talking about." sighed Olga-Marie.

"Yes. That would have been terrible." nodded Takina. "The training and signing of the Soul Contracts need to be something we will remember as precious and intimate moments."

Chisato nodded vehemently.

"Director, I have yet to present you with a contract." said Akeno. "Are you willing to sign one?"

"Yes." nodded Olga-Marie, blushing slightly.

"And you, Chisato?" asked Akeno.

"I am. I want to be on an equal stand with Takina. I was ticked off the other day when I couldn't take the risk of being touched by Fiamma's sure-death technique."

Takina watched Chisato warmly and squeezed her hand.

"Sure." nodded Akeno. "So, who among the girls you brought do you think is already willing to sign a contract?"

"I think Mikoto and her mom Misuzu might sign a contract today and gain Noah's powers immediately." said Takina.

"I'm not sure." replied Chisato. "Mikoto is a tsundere. She gets embarrassed at any little thing and starts zapping around. She may need more training before she gains Noah's powers, but I think she would agree to sign immediately."

"Yes." nodded Takina. "Angelene, Itsuwa, Kaori, Arisa and Shutaura need full training. Kuroko would sign immediately but may need some time with Noah himself to truly be loyal to him. And Misaki, well, she read Chisato's memories, so she knew exactly what joining meant, but she did anyway. That one's ambitious. She'll try to take your spot as Noah's second."

"As if her clique wasn't a big clue already." giggled Akeno. "I'll deal with her another day. What about the woman Sakura, Darkness and Medea brought back?"

"We visited her yesterday morning." shrugged Chisato. "Her name is Haruka Ouma. She's smart and beautiful, but stubborn. She had opened the panel near the door with a plastic spoon and was trying to short circuit the wires to force the door open when we came in."

"Oh. Did no one explain to her it was impossible for her to return to her world?"

"We did, but I don't think she believed us." said Olga-Marie. "Sakura blindfolded her when they rayshifted back. According to her, Haruka is somewhat related to Inori. Inori is a biological clone of Mana Ouma, Haruka's daughter who passed away due to the virus in that timeline."

"I see. Well, that is leverage we can use. I'll have to consult Noah."

…

Haruka stared gloomily at the metal cuff around her right ankle, linked by a long chain to a bolt on the wall. The chain allowed her to reach most of the room, and using the attached restroom wouldn't be an issue, but the door leading to the hallway was just out of reach.

She still wore the white and blue medical bodysuit she had on when they took her. Her captors had given her a local uniform to wear, but she hadn't changed her clothes. She felt like accepting those clothes would be the start of her surrender.

Still, she would eventually have no choice, unless she wanted to give up on hygiene.

It was about time for them to bring her breakfast, and she wondered if she should attempt to knock out whoever would come, if she saw the key to her ankle cuff on them.

She thought about her son for a while, wondering if Shu would make himself proper meals without her. Knowing him, he would probably order take-out. He should be worried a lot about her. Once again, she cursed herself for not running with the others when those guys raided the lab.

She had been waiting for her computer to finish downloading her work on her portable computer so she wouldn't have to start from scratch, thinking that she would have the time to save every file and run, but the raiders had been much faster than she anticipated.

In a panic, thinking that they were going to kill her, she took her gun from her drawer and resolved not to die without a fight, opening fire the instant they opened the lab's door.

She had been utterly shocked when the purple-haired woman leading them actually blocked bullets with her bare hands.

She was sure she was about to die, when the girl's eyes widened and suddenly signaled to her colleagues to stop. She asked for her name, and if she had a deceased daughter called Mana.

Haruka had been shocked and didn't answer, but that apparently satisfied the young woman, and she told her partners, all young women, that they were taking her with them.

She sighed once again, cursing her luck, when the door opened.

Two young women entered. One, she recognized, as she looked shockingly like her dead daughter. Their faces close yet different, their hair color wasn't the same, but they had the same eyes, and if Inori had claimed to be Mana's sister, no one aside from Haruka herself would have contested it.

The second was a brunette with large purple eyes and long hair in a ponytail that reached her knees, and she was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. There was something in her confident and welcoming smile that gave Haruka a feeling of warmth, and of wanting to be closer to that person.

"Greetings, I am Akeno Himejima, and you could say that I am the second in command in this place. It is nice to meet you."

"Likewise. But I have complaints about the way you treat guests. Many complaints." said Haruka with a deadpan tone.

"Yes. And you have every right to be unsatisfied, although in the long term, I think you will look back and see what happened to you those last few days as a good thing."

"I seriously doubt that... Since you didn't bring breakfast and are wearing those parkas, I assume you are taking me somewhere else?"

"Yes." nodded Akeno. "I am going to remove that cuff. Please do not try anything. You have seen Sakura block bullets. I can assure you that my body's resistance to injuries put hers to shame."

"How did she even manage it? Was her hand some kind of advanced prosthetic?"

"No." smiled Akeno as she bent down and unlocked the cuff. "Our bodies are… enhanced. I'll tell you more later. For now, I want to bring you out of this complex. There is something you need to see with your own eyes before you start to believe it."

"...Okay." nodded Haruka, accepting the parka Inori handed to her.

"I'll have Sakura apologize to you as well." smiled Akeno. "Not for abducting you, but the whole blindfolding and keeping you in this room were unnecessary. She said she wanted to keep you in a suitably compliant mindset, but…"

"…Well, to be fair, I did try to escape a few times before they brought me here, and I expected them to treat me worse." admitted Haruka, feeling compelled to be honest for some reason. That girl seemed to have more than her fair share of charisma.

"I am glad they didn't go too far. Please follow me, the main gate is close. But we aren't going to walk far. It's Antarctica, after all."

"Antarctica! That's impossible! Unless you drugged me for over half a day, I would have known if you stuffed me into a plane."

"You were teleported to this research station while you were blindfolded. Yes, I did say 'teleported'."

Haruka frowned as she followed Akeno and Inori down several hallways. It was ludicrous, but it also somehow made sense, in a weird way. When she had been handcuffed and blindfolded, with the woman named Medea keeping a hand on her arm. She had felt something, and suddenly, many other people seemed to be present and welcoming them back.

Haruka had thought that she had spaced out, or that she had glitched for a while, as her memories of that moment just didn't make sense. But if they indeed had teleported, then…

They reached a large hall with two huge steel doors at its end. The door was almost big enough for an Endlave to go through.

Akeno spoke a few words to the security guards who put on parkas and opened the doors enough for two people to pass through, and Haruka felt a wave of frigid air.

With a short hesitation, she followed Akeno and Inori outside, and they walked a few dozen meters, their legs sinking almost knee deep in the snow.

Haruka didn’t have good footwear for walking in the snow, and hoped they wouldn't stay long.

And she realized that without a full set of winter gear, trying to escape would be suicide. She didn't know if they really were in Antarctica or not, but Akeno had made her point. or so she thought.

"I took you outside for you to see something, Haruka." said Akeno, looking upward.

Haruka frowned as she looked up as well, trying to locate what she was looking at. But all she saw was the pitch-black sky. There was something about it that deeply unsettled her, and it took her a moment to realize.

There were no stars. Antarctica and other desolate regions far from civilization were the best spots to see stars, far away from light pollution. She should have seen thousands of stars. She should have spotted the higher concentration of stars indicating the plane of the Milky Way.

And the sky was too dark. Near the south pole, depending on the season, the sun would stay above the horizon for over a day. Even at the worst time of the year, the night shouldn't be this dark.

The sky was so dark that she felt like it was an infinite nothingness about to swallow them. She had never imagined herself to suffer from agoraphobia, but she felt that if she stared too long at this darkness, she would go insane.

"W-What happened to the stars?" asked Haruka with fear in her voice.

"Let's return inside, and we'll have tea. I will tell you everything." said Akeno.

Haruka nodded, not wanting to look up again. She kept her gaze fixed on the still open doors of the research center, thinking that when she falls asleep, she might have nightmares of her feet leaving the ground and being sucked into the void above.

Once inside, they removed their parkas, and Haruka followed Akeno down several hallways. They met many people along the way, exchanging greetings, and Haruka noticed with suspicion that those who didn't wear uniforms were all young and beautiful.

Akeno led them into a room that seemed quite similar to the one where she had been locked, and sat on the sofa when Akeno invited her to. She blinked repeatedly, unable to believe her eyes when Akeno materialized tea and snacks out of nowhere and served them.

Inori didn't seem fazed at all, as if she had seen it happen thousands of times.

"I made them myself, and I am quite proud of my baking skills. You aren't allowed to say they're bad." grinned Akeno.

"Are they… edible?" suspiciously asked Haruka, taking one of the cookies Akeno offered and watching it closely.

"They are tasty." nodded Inori.

"We have a form of internal energy that we call mana, and we can draw it out and convert it into physical matter. Weapons, tools, or food. It is perfectly healthy, I have eaten food I created for years."

"What kind of energy? And how do you convert it into complex molecular structures?" asked Haruka, torn between suspicion and scientific curiosity.

"I'll start from the beginning, from my point of view." said Akeno, starting with her life in the Himejima clan before her uncle and others decided to murder her, her reincarnation as a devil of the Gremory House, meeting Suzu, then her Master, and learning about the multiverse and parallel timelines.

She brought out her fallen angel wings and let Haruka touch them. She made sure to mention that Noah had revived her mother, and how she now worked as Lilith's servant to stop the destruction of dozens of worlds.

"…So, Sakura and the others came to your world, joined the resistance against GHQ to do some good while they waited for Alaya to locate the Demonic Pillar, and destroyed it, saving your world."

"It was close." nodded Inori. "It was hiding at the bottom of Lake Tagokura, between Tokyo and Niigata. Sakura summoned the six Valkyries, they killed the Demonic Pillar, and then we all returned to Tokyo, said our goodbyes and came here."

"I… see." said Haruka, feeling a bit faint as her vison of what was real and wasn't was torn upside down.

"Well, I am grateful that you saved our world. But why did you bring me with you, Inori?"

"That was Sakura's idea."

"I asked her before coming to see you." said Akeno. "She had several reasons. First, are you aware that Inori is… a clone of your daughter?"

The cup fell from Haruka's suddenly numb hand.

"Apparently not." muttered Akeno, using a hand made of hardened light to catch it before it shattered on the ground and using Magecraft to clean up the spilled tea.

Haruka trembled as she looked at Inori, and she nodded.

"They created me to be a vessel for her soul. They wanted her ability to control the Apocalypse virus." said Inori.

"T-That's…" struggled Haruka, her emotions in chaos, and she gulped. "Would you… have been like two persons in the same body?"

"No." said Inori as she shook her head. "I would have disappeared."

"...I am so sorry." said Haruka, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Why? You aren't the one who tried to do this to me."

"I… was involved, to some extent. When Shuichiro asked for DNA samples of my daughter, to study the effects of the virus… When I saw him working with chemicals that could be used for… accelerated cellular growth… I should have connected the dots and asked him what he was doing… I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I am safe, and I am happy now." awkwardly said Inori.

Akeno gave a tissue to Haruka, and she wiped her tears.

"Now, back to the reason Sakura decided to take you with them, Haruka. Would you be willing to adopt Inori as your daughter?"

Inori looked at Akeno in surprise. Sakura hadn't told her anything about it.

"…Yes." firmly nodded Haruka, smiling through renewed tears.

"What about you, Inori?"

"I…want to know what it is like, to have a mother." nodded Inori.

Haruki left her seat and tightly hugged the girl, sobbing softly.

Akeno watched with a soft smile for a few minutes, giving Haruka time to calm down a little.

"Great. I also spoke with Noah, Haruka. He has a deal to offer you. He loves making deals when he is certain the other party won't refuse. Haruka, he wants you to serve him, for eternity. In return, he offers you two things. First, he will revive your daughter Mana, and after fixing her bad personality traits, she and you will both live in his mansion."

"Second, since we cannot return you to your world, Noah will attempt to revive your son Shu once every year. As long as he is alive in your world, the resurrection will fail. But since Shu isn't immortal, a day will come when the resurrection succeeds, and Noah will revive him in his current state, with the body of an… eighteen years old? And his current personality and memories."

"I…can't return?"

"No. The way to your world was lost the instant you returned here. Now, your world is but one timeline among an infinite number, with nothing to distinguish it from the others, as far as our instruments can tell."

"So Shu is truly alone." sadly muttered Haruka. She felt tears welling up again.

"He will endure and grow stronger." said Akeno. "Did you know? Human beings do not grow in maturity by accumulating years. They grow more mature by overcoming setbacks and misfortune."

"…So, is Noah correct, in assuming his offer is too sweet for you to pass?" smiled Akeno.