Lucinda stretched her arms as a sigh of relief left her lips. Today felt like a long day, and she wanted to do nothing but sleep in her room until noon tomorrow. Fortunately, it was both her and Greyson's day off tomorrow. Which meant she could sleep until twelve PM, and nothing was stopping her from eating breakfast in one in the afternoon.

The large windows behind her coated the entire office in a soft orange and yellow hue. It made the blue walls of the office look brighter and warmer. It was always a refreshing sight to see, especially after spending more than eight hours staring at the same walls today.

She hummed as she continued cleaning her table. Tablet in the bag, books lined up together—she furrowed her brows as she stacked four cups of hot chocolate together and tossed them in her bin. Did she really drink four cups of hot chocolate today? Or were some of these days old? No, some of these could be from Greyson.

Speaking of which... she turned to her left. Greyson was still cleaning his own desk. He muttered a song under his breath, though the lyrics sounded nothing like the actual song and instead must have been his misheard lyrics. It made her giggle, and she patted his head once she reached him. He stopped in his tracks, ears flipping up and down as he showed her a smile.

"So," she said as she knelt down to his height. "Did you enjoy today?"

His eyes darkened as his ears flopped down. "Today was boring."

"Well, you can blame Viktor for that." She grabbed his backpack from his chair and helped him put it on. "He decided that we shouldn't be doing anything fun today."

"Ah, yes," Viktor said, making Lucinda turn to him. He sat by his desk, unsurprisingly holding a mirror in his hand as he checked his reflection out. He hadn't even cleaned his things yet, and his pet dragon was chewing on one of his pens again. "Blame the guy who said to do your job instead of doing the thing you're paid to do."

By his own desk, Azul slung his bag over his shoulders and shrugged. "Hey, for once I agree with her. It's fun blaming you."

"Congratulations," Lucinda replied. "For the first time in your life, you're actually right about something."

He placed his thumb and index finger under his chin while clicking his tongue. "I'm always right."

"And now you're back to being wrong. The moment was fun while it lasted."

Anthea stood up from her chair and yawned. "As much as I would love to sit down and watch Lucinda prove Azul wrong again—"

Azul furrowed his brows. "Hey!"

"—I unfortunately don't have the energy to listen to your bickering. I spent the entire day wielding my ability, and I need to sleep. I'll see you all tomorrow. Or in three days if I decide to ditch work."

*Spent the entire day wielding her ability.* It made Lucinda hum inside, but she kept it to herself. She simply showed Anthea a smile as she held Greyson's hand. "I'll see you all in two days as well. Be careful and make sure Viktor doesn't pepper spray Azul for ten minutes again while I'm gone."

Azul clicked his tongue again as he rolled his eyes. "This is workplace abuse. I can report you all to HR if I want to."

Though Viktor was shorter than him, he still grabbed Azul by the neck and dragged him down to his height. Azul screamed in resistance, but Viktor kept rubbing his fist on his head before dropping letting him go. "But I know you don't want to because you actually love us and love spending time and working with us."

"No, I hate you all."

With one last chuckle, Lucinda tugged Greyson's hand and led him to the elevator. Once they were inside, she leaned her back on the glass walls and held her arms. Usually, she would carry Greyson the entire time until they would get back home. But now, she could barely carry her bag without her arms shaking as if they were going to break soon. It was a miracle she could still stand, even. The day after she killed Nyx, she had to spend another sick day because she could barely get out of bed.

*One month.* It had been one month since that day. One month since she won their game. And yet, even though Nyx lost, it seemed like she still won in her own way.

After this, she doubted she could do the same things she used to do.

The sound of the elevator doors dinging made her lift her head. She grabbed Greyson's hand, leading him out of the building. The warm air of the dusk brushed her cheek, replacing the cool air of the DUO's HQ. She took a deep breath, and a sigh followed as they continued walking.

"Mima." Greyson tugged on her coat, making her look down. "I'm hungry. Can we go somewhere?"

"Of course." She patted his head and lightly ruffled his hair. "Where do you want to go?"

"Can we go to Bee-Jolly?"

"No." She booped his nose, making his ears flop down. "We already had Bee-Jolly five days ago. How about pizza?"

He poked his tongue out. "I don't want pizza. You always order the one with pineapp—ow."

She lightly flicked his nose, making him poke his tongue out again.

"How about cake, then?"

His ears perked up, and his eyes gleamed as he nodded. "Okay."

Lucinda grabbed her phone and flipped it open, booking a taxi for them. It took a while before it arrived. Unsurprisingly, Greyson fell asleep during the thirty minute ride, and she had to shake him awake as usual when they reached the café and went out of the car.

The bell chimed when she pushed the door open. At the corner of her eyes, a few heads turned to her direction before immediately turning away. The smell of freshly baked pastries made her take a deep breath, and the soft orange lights mixed with the gentle piano music removed any other weight from her chest when she exhaled. There weren't a lot of people, but most of the ones here seemed like they all just came from work as well. She held Greyson's hand as the two of them headed to the dessert display.

"One slice of red velvet and a medium hot chocolate," she said to the cashier. "What do you want, Chuchu?"

He blinked as he scanned the cakes on the display, then the menu board above him. One of his ears twitched as he inched closer and squinted his eyes. "Can I have coffee?"

"No, you're too young for coffee."

"But I wanna try coffee." He turned to her and held his hands together. "Please, please, *please*, Mima! I wanna try coffee, please!"

And he was doing that thing again.

Just say no. Greyson was a good kid, and he knew what 'no' meant. She was aware of that.

She tried to look away from him. But the moment she caught a glimpse of his gold and silver eyes from her peripheral vision, a sigh of defeat left her lips as she knelt down to his height. "Alright, but on one condition: you know I don't drink coffee, which means it would just be wasted if you don't finish it. So if you don't finish your coffee, you're not getting cake for another month. Promise?"

He nodded, the smile on his face never fading. "Promise."

She placed both hands on his cheeks and pinched them, making him cry out, before pressing a kiss on his forehead. "You're lucky you're cute. I would have turned you into a Chuchu cake if you weren't."

She stood up and faced the cashier once again. "Make that two slices of red velvet cake instead, one medium hot chocolate, and one medium black coffee. If it's possible, can you add ice to the coffee so it wouldn't be too hot?"

The girl nodded. "Of course, ma'am."

Once the cashier gave her their pager, she took a seat near the windows. It was another while before the pager vibrated, and she grabbed their food from the counter. She passed one of the cakes and coffee to Greyson, then placed her own food in front of her.

As she started eating her cake, she watched him open the lid of the coffee and add creamer and sugar. He blew out any of the remaining steam before taking a small sip. A part of her expected him to poke his tongue out, to tell her it was bitter and that he wanted more sugar, or maybe add more creamer because the coffee was too dark. But none of that happened. Instead, his ears perked up, and he continued drinking.

He placed the coffee down and poked his tongue out. "Too hot."

She blinked as she took a sip of her own hot chocolate. How anyone could drink coffee like that never failed to surprise her.

He furrowed his brows and tilted his head to the side. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" Lucinda blinked a few times. Had she been staring for too long? "Oh, I'm fine. I'm just thinking about how you're a big boy now."

"I am?"

"You are." She placed a finger on his nose, letting it rest there. "And you'll just continue to grow bigger and bigger every time you grow older."

"How big?"

"I think..." She placed her hands above her. Before she could stand up to pin his actual height, she sat back down and let her hand remain in the air. "This big."

"Woah." His eyes sparked, and his ears flipped up and down. "I'll be a giant."

"You really will be."

As the two of them continued eating, the sound of the bell chiming made her turn to the entrance. Three more people entered the café, and one of them turned their head to her. With a hum, she flicked her gaze away from the entrance and continued eating her food. Her ears perked up at the sound of footsteps on her right, followed by the sound of them taking the seat directly behind her.

She grabbed her phone from her pocket and placed it on her ear while leaning on the couch. "Is this really the best way you can talk to me, Sidon?"

"Hello to you, too, Miss Saffirus," Poseidon said, her voice low and muffled between the two seats. "It's been a while."

"It's just a month. I've been on breaks longer than this one."

"Indeed you have. How are you and Chuchu?"

"We've been well." She turned to Greyson, who was back to drinking his coffee. "Chuchu's been... different, though. He's still the same, but it's like he completely forgot about what happened. I don't think he remembers that day."

*"Our brains can even develop a defense mechanism that makes us forget our trauma,"* she remembered Anteha saying. *"Different people have different reactions."*

Behind her, Poseidon hummed. "I see. But don't you think it's a good thing he forgot?"

"For now? I think it is. But for the long run?" Her grip on her phone tightened as she bit her inner cheek. "There's a lot of things he needs to know. One of these days, I'll let him know about it."

"And when would that day be?"

"I guess when both of us are ready for it."

"I see." She couldn't see it, but she could tell Poseidon was nodding. "You're lucky, you know? Not everyone in the SCD gets to retire."

"I am, but."

Lucinda lifted her head, facing Greyson again. Some of the creamcheese had smudged his cheeks, making her chuckle. She grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped the frosting from his face. He poked his tongue out and licked the corners of his mouth, grabbing any other frosting that she could have missed.

"I'm happy. I'm glad that this is how it ended for me."

"As am I, Lucinda. As am I."

"Hi, Chuchu."

Lucinda lifted her head. Lucia had placed a hand on Greyson's hair and ruffled it a little. His ears flattened, but they immediately perked back up as he smiled. He jumped down from the couch, wrapping his arms around Lucia's legs. "Aunt Lulu!"

"You're getting chubbier," she said as she pinched his cheeks. "Have you been eating too much?"

Behind her, Lucian crossed his arms. "What, no hug for me?"

At the sight of him, Greyson's ears flattened, and his eyes darkened once again. He went back to his seat and moved both his food and coffee at the corner alongside him. "Hi."

"Wow." Lucian placed a hand on his chest, sighing dramatically yet again. "I see how it is."

"See, Lu? This is what happens when you don't treat children nicely." Lucia placed her hand on her hips and turned around. "Anyway, hi. You don't mind if Lu and I sit with you two, don't you?"

Lucinda showed her sister a smile and nodded. "I don't mind. Just make sure *you* sit next to Chuchu. He might kill Lucian if you won't."

Like what she said, Lucia sat next to Greyson while Lucian sat next to her.

Lucinda turned to her right, watching the bustling city outside. The sun's rays managed to get in the café as well, and she squinted her eyes when it reached her eyes. Despite that, the smile on her face didn't fade.

Twenty years of mastering every rule of every game she had ever played. And in the end, she won all of them.

Word count: 2225
Total: 34558

The epilogue better end in either a 0 or a 5 because this word count is so satisfying and I don't want anything ruining it

Edit from future Ace: hey yo so about that