****IRAVAN***
It's been a month since Rilyah went to Qeshaya.
There's a certain unrest in all the realms of Iravan.
The goddess of night and wishes rarely comes out of her palace since her daughter had been punished. Rilyah's sisters have lost their usual liveliness. The entire Iravan is under a melancholic mood.
The other gods stay in their realms, trying to fix what can be fixed and wait for solutions.
The Dark Realm is not doing anything better.
There's barely any noise. The entire realm is shrouded in fear and silence. The Dark God is rarely in a good mood these days.
The only time when he smiles is in the moments that he spends with his daughter. Misumi is getting better. Her channels are nearly healed but she's not ready to be exposed to the world. The Dark God doesn't let anyone see the child -- not even Mogrok. In the dark castle, he's the only one who takes care of her.
The child is quiet but she smiles a lot. The days go on. Adira is impatient and afraid but he hangs on to the string of hope because of Misumi's smile. The days go on.
After sixty-two days since Rilyah's punishment, Cina completes the first seeker gate.
The abode of Cina is a small cave. The beams of light manage to enlighten the cave completely. Vines with small pink flowers cover the wall of the caves. Sitting on the cold floor, Cina is giving finishing touches to the first seeker gate carved out of condensed ehr stones.
"I was able to finish it early because of your help." Cina wipes his sweat as he says to Aren, "You have helped me a lot."
"I needed to do something." Aren leans back on the wall, taking a deep breath. "How many more?"
"I guess I only need to make keys to Iravan for our return." Cina pauses. "We can summon the universal gate and come back here. But… I am worried if what Kresi said was true."
Kresi hasn't returned to this world. It only means that she hasn't found Ai or something happened to her. Aren wants to use the seeker gate to find Kresi but he knows well that Dark God's daughter and Ari must be found first. Kresi can take care of herself.
He will go to that world with the gods, and he will look for Kresi and Ai. Aren gets up and says to Cina with a smile, "I will inform the Dark God."
Cina only nods. He needs to start carving the keys. It will take a few minutes.
After a while, Adira and Noras appear in the cave with Aren. Cina looks over his shoulder. The Dark God doesn't look any good. There's dark circles around his eyes and his skin has turned yellowish. He doesn't look like he has slept for days.
"Who is taking care of Misumi?" Cina questions him, not bothering with Dark God's worries.
"I left a copy of myself." Adira replies calmly, "He has half of my powers to protect Misumi."
Cina blinks his eyes. He hasn't expected to hear that. Gods can make their clones but it's unadvisable to do that. "I didn't know that you would do that."
"I promised Misumi that I would always keep her in front of my eyes." Adira sighs. "Besides, she needs protection. Her vessels aren't cured yet. I can only imagine what is happening to my second daughter."
Misaki is still in a different world.
"Don't worry too much." Noras pats Adira's back. "The seeker gate will take us to the time when she was just born or maybe… sometime after she's born. Misumi is already with us. Cina, look for the Renasir."
The god of the trees gives them a nod. He taps the runes on the gate one by one, chanting a certain spell and calling Renasir Ari's and Misaki's names a few times. The gate, no matter how hard he tries, doesn't react to his power at all.
"What's going on?" Adira steps forward. "Why is the gate not opening?"
"I don't know." Cina tries again. At the same time, Kresi's words echo in his head. If they can't open the gate to the place where Ari and Misaki are together, then they must try to open the gate to Misaki. "Dark God, who do you want to find first: Misaki or Ari?"
The Dark God scowls at him. "What kind of question is that? I want to find both."
"No, the gate isn't reacting." Cina glances at Aren once. "Kresi told me that the gate might not open to the place where Renasir Ari and Misaki are together."
Adira exhales. Where could that woman be? Why is it so difficult to find her? He can't sleep at night because of that woman. During day time, she's been haunting his thoughts all the time. His daughter and… what is Ari to him? Why can't his memories return? He wants to know who she is. Adira whispers, "Misaki. Find Misaki first."
His daughter needs to be saved. He can't let his daughter become handicapped.
The gate reacts to Cina when he says Misaki's name. Cina tries to find the earliest time where he can find Misaki. The time is flowing differently at different realms. If they find Misaki on the same day she went missing, there's a high chance that they might find Renasir Ari somewhere near.
Cina frowns when he sees the gate opening to a strange world of giant mushrooms. He turns around and tells Adira and Noras, "This is where Misaki is."
The two gods head toward the world together. Aren and Cina follow them. They arrive at the location where the dead toad-like creatures are lying on the floor.
What could have happened here? Aren looks around. "Who killed these people?"
Adira takes a sniff. There's a scent of demi-god child in the air. It's quite strong. His child isn't far away. He points at the wall. "My daughter has gone there."
The wall is a small gate to another world. The gods tear it down. When the river of death appears before their eyes, each one of them turns pale.
"What kind of world is this?" Noras wrinkles his nose. "Who created such a grotesque prison for the forsaken ones?"
Aren looks down at the river and gulps. There are countless faces screaming, trying to get out of the river. "It's a prison? Are these people alive?"
"They are neither alive nor dead." Noras answers him, "This place is worse than Qeshaya."
"Let's cross the river." Adira flies over the bridge, heading to the other side fast. Noras also flies behind him. Cina, being weakened after making the seeker gate, takes a deep breath and walks over the bridge while steeling his heart. Aren also does the same.
'Adira.'
Halfway in his path, Adira stops mid-air. He looks toward the river. The water is raging wildly. What was that voice? He's sure that he heard something. But there are only screams coming from the river -- cries of the forsaken ones.
"What's wrong?" Noras questions him, surprised by his action.
"There's something…" Adira's eyes search for the owner of the voice. Is it Ari? But there's no trace of her essence in the water. "I think that I heard Ari's voice."
"Renasir Ari in that place?" Noras creases his forehead. Even contemplating that idea is sending goosebumps in his body. "I think that one of the forsaken ones imitated her. She must have passed through this bridge earlier. These foul spirits imitate to attract the people."
Adira purses his lips. Could she have gone through this bridge? He can't smell her scent here. There's no way that she could be in this river. He shrugs and continues flying to the other side. He must find his daughter first.