From that point onward, Zen ventured through each cycle alone.
At first, he believed Melissa would eventually return as she always had.
Perhaps she had simply reincarnated farther away than usual.
Perhaps she needed more time for her memories to awaken.
Perhaps she was intentionally avoiding him for a few decades before finally showing up one day to complain about something trivial.
"...."
…But she never came.
One cycle passed.
Then another.
Then another.
And no matter how hard Zen searched, he could not find her.
At first, he searched methodically.
He spent an entire developing spells specifically designed to locate souls tied to higher-dimensional phenomena.
"...."
But there was nothing.
Eventually, Zen arrived at only two possible conclusions.
The first possibility was that Melissa had finally become completely done with him. After everything that happened and the way their final conversation ended, perhaps she simply no longer wished to see him again.
