Allen and Jonathan were grieving over the deaths of the women they had loved.
Crack
A shard of glass fractured beneath the weight of a foot.
Both men slowly looked up.
"Where... have you been?"
Jonathan's voice was cold, but beneath that coldness was something far more fragile.
Maiuri's headless body lay motionless in Jonathan's arms, her clothes stained dark with blood. Jonathan held her with both hands, almost carefully, as though some part of him still believed that if he held her tightly enough, death might somehow loosen its grip.
Young Aether's gaze remained fixed upon Maiuri's lifeless body.
"I... I—"
Before he could finish, Allen suddenly moved away from his dead wife.
His hand shot forward and seized Young Aether by the collar.
"WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN?!"
It was not anger alone. It was fear, desperation, and the raw agony of a father who had already lost too much and could not bear the thought of losing anything else.
