A man let out a tiring sigh as he threw down a manila folder onto his wooden desk. The folder was filled to the brim with papers while a large picture was attached to the front of it.

He laid his head in his hands as he started massaging his temples.

“I’m getting too old for this.”

He said to himself as he let out another sigh.

Turning his head to the side, a reflection of himself was shown from the black computer screen.

His face was wrinkled showing signs of his age while his head was full of white hair. It had yet to start falling out so he still had plenty of time left in this world as long as he took care of his health.

Reaching into the top drawer of his wooden desk, he took out a white pill bottle.

His eyes looked at the small pill bottle that barely fit in the palm of his hands, then it shot a glance towards the clock.

It was 4:43 PM, still pretty early and too early for him to take his medication.

Calling it a medication would be too much considering he rarely got sick and there was nothing wrong with him physically or mentally. Instead, it was something he was addicted to. The pills made him feel something, it wasn’t quite a high or a rush but rather something else.

The pills made him feel like he was travelling somewhere else, to some place far away.

Time ticked by and before he knew it, five minutes already went by.

Two knocks sounded out and the man threw the pill bottle back into the top drawer and shut it.

“Come in.”

His voice was very calming to hear, but you could easily tell it belonged to an older man.

With his authorization to enter, a young woman with short red hair came into the office. On her left ear was an earpiece, and a tablet was in her hands. Judging from the sweat on her face, the man could tell she had ran here.

The top of her blouse was unbuttoned and due to the sweat on her body, it clung to her closely causing it to become see-through.

“Sir.”

She hurriedly spoke as she started tapping her fingers on the tablet. She looked down at the tablet but came closer to the desk the man was seated at.

“There was a large spike in essence particles in Ohio so it was quickly brought to our attention. I haven’t seen readings like these since the incident ten years ago. You know, the last time Loki made his move and took up residence in the Atlantic.”

The woman passed the tablet over to the man as she started explaining what was on the tablet.

The man analyzed what was on the tablet before he passed it back to her.

“How long ago was that?”

The woman seemed to hesitate over whether or not she should open her mouth, but seeing the look on the mans face caused her to act.

“Four hours ago sir, but it only lasted for less than a second.”

She looked down towards the ground as she spoke, afraid to look the man in the eye.

She could only hear him sigh which only caused her to worry more.

“Did you not say this was brought to our attention quickly? Yet, you tell me that was four hours ago? How exactly is that quick? Do you not… you know what, nevermind. So, who is it?”

From the tone of his voice she could tell he was irritated, she would be too if she were in his shoes. The sound of his finger tapping the desk could be heard but all she could think about was if she’d be fired or not.

Bearing the bad news was never good, she disliked the fact she drew the short end of the stick on this one.

“That’s just it sir, all five Xeno users are accounted for and since the incident ten years ago none have moved. The only one remotely close to Ohio is Zephyr but it's unlikely he’d do anything. So it’s likely that this is someone not in our records.”

The finger tapping stopped, but the woman was still afraid to look up at the man.

“You’re assuming this correct?”

“That is correct.”

“Let’s say on the off-chance Zephyr didn’t make a move, that means there is an unidentified Xeno class user out there that we know nothing about. We don’t know their ambitions, nor what they are capable of.

Clear my schedule for the month, and book us tickets to Ohio.”

“Us?”

“Yes, us.”

☆☆☆☆☆

His mind drifted in a blank space. There were no images or sound, it was just a world of white. The strange thing was, he wasn’t afraid to be alone in this white space. Instead it gave him a sense of comfort.

When he finally came to, he found himself laying on a small bed with a sheet on it. His body was still in pain but nothing he couldn’t handle. He lifted his head off the pillow that’s when he noticed the numerous tubes attached to his body.

Down towards the bottom of the bed was a young woman with long blonde hair, she had her arms crossed on the edge of the bed while her head laid on top. There was a sense of relief when he spotted her, but he wondered how they escaped.

Looking to his left, he noticed another woman curled up in a chair with a blanket covering her body. Her long brown hair was covering up the side of her face, but he knew who she was.

She too was sleeping peacefully.

‘How long have I been out?’

He asked himself. His sense of time was off due to him losing consciousness.

The curtains that went around to close off the area moved and a figure appeared.

“It’s good to see that you’ve woken up, but you should take this chance to continue to rest.”

The older man said as he walked in with a tray of fruit in his hands.

“How long have I been out Charles? What happened exactly?”

Charles, Celia’s familiar and butler was the one who just entered Nick’s room. He walked over to the small stand next to Nick’s bed and put the tray down.

“It’s been thirty-two hours since your collapse. As for what happened, that is hard to explain as i’m not quiet sure myself.”

Charles said as he walked over to Celia who was resting her head on the edge of Nick’s bed. He picked up the black coat he wore off the ground and shook it off before putting it over Celia’s body.

“After your collapse, we felt this breeze of wind. It came out of nowhere, and I couldn’t feel a disturbance in the air. Seconds later a gust of wind surrounded milady and before I could do anything I fainted. If you want more details you’ll have to ask milady herself, but she has yet to tell me anything. Maybe she’ll be more open to you.”

Charles told Nick all that he recalled about that day.

“I see. Where is my mother? What about my friends?”

Nick quickly asked another question.

Charles looked Nick in the eye and turned his head to the curtain.

“She’s resting, just like yo-”

Before Charles could finish his sentence the curtain to Nick’s room slid open. It allowed Nick to see his mother who laying on the bed in the other room. A woman with brown hair styled into braided crown stood in front of Nick, preventing him from seeing the full condition of his mother.

She was wearing a brown unzipped jacket that covered her gray shirt that barely reached her bellybutton. Her ripped jeans was wrapped tightly around her body showcasing her slightly plump legs while giving off this strange charm. In her mouth was an unlit cigarette while her arms were crossed.

From the cold look of her hazel eyes, Nick could tell she was upset about something. Yet, he did not know what.

She gave him the feeling of a tomboy with womanly charms. Who was she and why was she in his mothers room?

“You two talk too much, shut your mouth or i’ll shut it for you.”

Nick’s right eye twitched.

“Who the hell are you?”

Nick blurted out as he glared at the woman.

Hearing Nick’s tone caused the woman crack her knuckles. She walked over next to Nick and grabbed his ear tightly.

“That anyway to speak to your elders?”

She pulled on his ear hard causing Nick who was already in slight pain to scream out. His screams woke up Celia that was laying at the bottom of his bed and Alyson who was curled up in the chair.

Celia jumped up when she spotted this woman.

“Auntie Lauren!”

Lauren turned her head slightly and glared coldly at Celia.

“And you! How dare you return after everything i’ve done for you!”

She quickly grabbed and pulled on Celia’s ear with her right hand.

After two minutes of disciplining both Nick and Celia, Lauren let them go.

“Alright, you three can leave us now.”

“B-but…”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Alyson, Celia and Charles left the room, leaving Nick and Lauren alone.

Alyson was still confused as to what was going on, but Celia seemed to know more. She looked back at the injured Nick one last time before she walked out.

“You probably don’t remember me do you?”

Lauren asked Nick as she took the seat that Alyson was sleeping in.

Nick tried to recall her face, but he couldn’t.

“Comes as no surprise, I barely interacted with you. I guess you can say this is our ‘first’ official meeting. I’m your aunt, and as you’ve heard from Celia my name is Lauren.”

Lauren crossed her legs as she sank into the chair.

“I just want to know, do you want to save your mother?”