{A Week Later}

"How are you holding up?" Rin asked.

"I am fine," Xhez responded as she lagged just a few steps behind her partner. "Without the illusion, I am able to last a little while longer out in the sun. I do not feel tired."

"You sure you don't wanna lay down at all?"

"Yes," Xhez responded as firmly as she could. "I am alright."

In truth, she knew it wouldn't be too long now before she had to recharge. Even though she hadn't kept the illusion spell up, she and Rin had been walking under the sun for a while now, and even during a few hours into the night. They were intent on making as much progress as they could as quickly as possible, and that meant that they were just about to arrive at Xhez's old pond.

During the few breaks they did take, though, Xhez had tried to sleep and found that those strange visions she'd seen while sleeping outside of water had continued to pester her, even when resting in her water bag.

She didn't want to see those anymore.

Thankfully, as distracted as she was, from here, the rest of the journey had been fairly easy. They'd passed through that old ruin where Rin had been gifted her Spirit Flame ability with no trouble. Because they'd eliminated the evil that had cursed that area, it had been reduced to an eerie, but empty, old, and dusty land.

With that out of the way, all they had to do was avoid any monsters they ran into, which was fairly easy to do since they hadn't run into anything too keen-eyed.

"So... How much longer will it be?" Rin asked.

"We are nearly there!" Xhez declared that, smiling at Rin as the thought of seeing her parents again warmed her heart. "Ah... I am so excited!"

Rin giggled a little, looking ahead with a smile.

However, her expression soon changed. She maintained that smile, but Xhez could sense some worry.

"Um... After..." Rin trailed off, looking away.

"Yes?" Xhez asked.

Rin's amber eyes then went back to her. The woman gazed at Xhez for a moment before then shaking her head.

"Nothing. Uh, yeah, I'm glad you'll be getting to see them again."

Xhez didn't press Rin on whatever it was that had just turned her Spirit that slightest bit dimmer. Not just because she didn't want to be nosy, but because she was dealing with her own concerns at the moment, regarding those visions.

Right now, she just wanted to focus on the positives. And, of course, the biggest positive came in the form of the fact that the two of them were just another hour or two away from arriving at the pond.

Xhez's anticipation bubbled up as every minute passed by, until, finally, they were there.

Xhez stopped, feeling a sense of joy wash over her as she saw the pond where she and her family had been before she met Rin. Now that she was back, there was a lot she wanted to tell them.

Everything that happened with June, the oddities of human civilization, the friend she'd come to make in Rin. She was eager to share all of it with them.

So, when she went into the water and looked around, only to not find anything inside, she froze.

[What?] Xhez searched the pond a little more deeply, looking under rocks and digging up sand. [Where...?]

As Xhez came out of the water, Rin tilted her head.

Xhez answered the question on the tip of Rin's tongue before she could ask it.

"I did not see them," Xhez stated. "They are not here."

Rin's jaw dropped as Xhez dipped her head under the water once more, trying to see if she'd missed something.

Her Spirit, however, was already telling her what her mind was refusing to believe. Her parents weren't there.

Once she'd run out of rocks to search under, Xhez pulled herself out again.

"They are not here," she said once more.

Immediately, Rin put a hand up to her chin, contemplating the matter.

"You, ehm, you told me that you and your mother traveled from place to place, right?" She asked. "Maybe they went to some other pond nearby."

"R-Right," Xhez replied. "You are right. They probably went somewhere. Um..." She tried to search through her memory, pushing the anxiety in her heart away. "They are probably... This way," Xhez said.

Xhez began walking to the east in a hurry. Rin followed closely behind her, though both of them remained silent.

"There were a few places we liked to stay in," Xhez muttered. "That was just the most spacious of this forest's ponds."

Thankfully, as she got closer to the one she had in mind, she felt something.

A certain spiritual light in the middle of the empty void around her. A familiar one that she quickly began to run toward, hoping her worries were unfounded.

As she arrived, she immediately dove into the water.

All it took were a few seconds of searching for her eyes to bulge out of their sockets as they fell on a white orb at the bottom.

Xhez let out a sigh of relief as she swam down to it and poured some of her Spirit into the orb, waking her mothers and letting them know she was there.

With that being done, she swam back out, waiting beside RIn for her mothers to emerge.

"They are here!" She announced. "They are here, they..." Xhez's shoulders fell as she allowed herself to bask in that relief she felt.

"See?" Rin replied. "They're alright."

"Yes, they..."

"They", however, was incorrect.

Only one of Xhez's mothers came out of the water.

Xhez waited as Saria rubbed her eyes. The sprite yawned as Xhez gripped her own knees.

"Xhez?" Saria asked with a tired voice.

"... Mother," Xhez smiled at her. "I came back."

"OH XHEZ!" Saria quickly threw herself at her daughter, wrapping her in a tight hug.

Xhez, however, couldn't return it quite as well as she wanted to. Something was on her mind.

"Mother," Xhez said again. "Where is Vortell?"

Xhez felt one of Saria's hands ball up into a fist behind her back. As Saria pulled away, Xhez saw tears in her eyes.

[No.]

"... Vortell has been captured."

Xhez's heart had never felt quite as cold as it did at that moment.