Adyr ca to the front door and reached into his pocket for the keys. Just as he was about to unlock it, the door opened from the inside.
"I heard the car and figured it was you," Selina said.
Dressed in a plain black one-piece dress, her midnight-purple hair loosely tied back, she looked simple, ordinary, even. But that simplicity only served to highlight her natural grace and quiet beauty. Still, her face was touched by a quiet sorrow.
"Your mother’s inside. She’s asleep," she added, stepping aside to let him in.
By the ti she called Adyr, she was already at his ho. She had co to check on Marielle in person. Given that her mother was the founder of the Angel Wing Foundation and that Selina herself was regularly involved in its operations, it wasn’t unusual for her to personally follow up on the well-being of employees. But this ti was different. This wasn’t just protocol. It was about Adyr. The mont she received the report, she ca without hesitation.
"Thank you for coming," Adyr said, slipping off his shoes as he stepped inside.
The living room was dimly lit, filled with the faint scent of antiseptic and sothing sweet—maybe the tea soone had made earlier. On the couch, Marielle lay under a thin blanket, her body still, her face pale. Her eyes were closed, and the slow, steady rise and fall of her chest showed she was in deep sleep.
Niva sat at their mother’s bedside in a small chair, her back slightly hunched, fingers clenched tightly in her lap. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, lashes still damp. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t even notice Adyr until he was standing right beside her.
"Brother..." she whispered, lifting her head to look at him. Her voice cracked as she stood, moving toward him with slow, unsteady steps.
"She’s back," she whispered, then wrapped her arms around him, her words barely audible between quiet, broken sobs.
"She is," Adyr replied, holding her close. Her small body trembled in his arms—so light, so fragile.
"Son... welco ho." The voice ca softly, but clearly.
Marielle had opened her eyes. Her skin was pale, her hair washed out and colorless, and the light in her pale blue eyes had faded. Yet despite it all, her voice held no trace of that frailty, calm and steady, as if trying to shield them from worry.
Niva quickly wiped her face and forced a smile when she saw her mother awake.
Adyr approached with the sa calm expression and spoke gently. "Welco back. How do you feel?"
Marielle paused for a mont, then answered without changing her expression. "Just a bit tired. The trip ho took more out of than I expected." But her voice trembled.
"I see. Then get so rest. You’ll need your strength," Adyr said, brushing her hair back softly. He watched as her eyes slowly shut again, and her breathing settled into a quiet rhythm. Before long, she had fallen back asleep.
"Brother..." Niva stepped closer. Tears welled up again in her bloodshot eyes. "She is..." She tried to speak, but the words caught in her throat.
"I know," Adyr said quietly, his gaze fixed on Marielle’s arm—or rather, where it should have been.
Everything below the elbow was gone.
Niva stifled her sobs, trying not to wake their mother. As she trembled silently, Selina stepped up beside them and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don’t worry. She’s a strong woman... at least, from what I’ve seen," Selina said softly. "And with how far dical tech has co, there’s a good chance she’ll get her arm back."
She said it with practiced calm, the kind that was ant to reassure. But even she couldn’t fully believe it.
Because what Marielle had lost wasn’t just a limb.
It was the way she lost it. And that had taken sothing far deeper—sothing that wouldn’t be so easily restored.
Niva nodded, looking slightly more at ease. Of course, she didn’t know exactly what their mother had been through—Selina had told her only that Marielle had lost her arm during a skirmish.
But Adyr knew the truth. Clearly. Precisely.
Selina looked at him. He was silent—far too silent. But when their eyes t, her heightened [Sense] stirred to life. She could hear the weight of his silence, so loud it felt like it might rupture her ears.
"Thank you for coming, Selina," Adyr said in his usual composed tone.
Selina nodded, understanding the aning behind his words. "I’ll co back again tomorrow to check. My mother said she’ll be here at first light. She was too busy today because of sothing urgent at the station."
The situation was far more serious than it appeared, and as the founder of the Angel Wing Foundation, her mother had been deeply involved.
It wasn’t just that the entire STF unit assigned to the mission had been wiped out by the terrorist group. Most of the Foundation personnel involved had also died. Only Marielle and a few others had returned, and each of them had co back missing a limb.
And their return hadn’t been luck. They were released deliberately—as a ssage to the city.
The severed limbs were the warning: stay out of our territory.
And there was no need to explain where those limbs had ended up. The one leading the group—the man known only by the nickna Cannibal—made that perfectly clear.
After Selina left, the room fell silent again.
"You need to eat sothing," Adyr said to his sister.
The table still held the food Selina had brought—among them, Niva’s favorite, cherry cake. But she didn’t seem interested.
"I’m not hungry. You eat."
Adyr sighed, then gently took her by the arms and lifted her from the chair she had clung to. Ignoring her quiet protests, he carried her to the table and sat her down.
"Why are you bullying ? Showing off your new mutant body or sothing?" Niva muttered, frowning. Adyr, carrying her like a pillow, had clearly caught her off guard.
"Well, as a big brother, it’s my job to tease my little sister," Adyr said with a small laugh, placing a piece of cake in front of her. Then, in a calr tone,
"Eat sothing. Pull yourself together. Then go wash your face. If she wakes up and sees you like this, it’ll only make things harder for her."
Niva lowered her head and stared at the cake. She really didn’t have the appetite, especially not for sothing sweet. But her brother was right. She had to pull herself together.
She lifted her gaze. "At least give so proper food."
Adyr chuckled and pulled out two containers from another bag—still warm, cheese pasta. He set the table again.
The two of them ate in silence. After clearing the table and tidying up, the hour had grown late. Niva curled up in the chair beside their mother, while Adyr laid out a floor mattress and made his bed there in the living room.
Marielle, helped by the dication, slept without stirring. Niva, worn down by exhaustion, drifted off soon after.
But Adyr...
That night, he saw the one nightmare he despised the most.
From the darkness, that familiar, ice-cold voice returned.
"Son."
This night would be anything but peaceful.
***
A/N: End of Volu I – The Chained
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