"Not sure if you remember this... but we have arrived, William," Maya said with a genuine smile. She glanced towards William and back at the women standing in front.

There was a small moment of silence. William kept looking at the woman in front. Maya had a faint smile on her face as she looked back and forth between William and the lady. William was quiet, his mind processing the situation.

"So... phia?" William said to himself, in a low voice. "Auntie Sophia ."

As the name came out of his mouth, the woman dropped the small sickle from her palms and grabbed her mouth. A faint smile made its way on her face accompanied by some tears in her eyes. William, his eyes still stuck on the woman, opened the doors and got out of the car. As his feets touched the ground of the area, a strong sensation of the abnormal laylines flow ran through his body. His body was able to feel the flow of natural energies, which was abnormal, and disturbed in the region.

This abnormal flow of energies, often, creates illusions using one's memories. These illusions differ from person to person. That is: If one person sees an Illusion, it's not necessary that the other person would see the same illusion.

William, at first, doubted his eyes and questioned himself if the thing his eyes were showing was real. Or if it's just a part of his memory, manipulated by the abnormal energy flow. But his affection towards the woman in front was stronger than his doubts. He, ignoring the doubts about the laylines flow, released his hand from the car doors and walked some steps forward, towards the direction of the woman.

Auntie Sophia ... please tell me that's really you. He said to himself, looking towards the woman, who was standing still, looking at him.

Auntie Sophia ... please tell me, it's not a laylines illusion. His eyes fixed on the lady. please tell me it's you.

As these thoughts rushed inside his head like a turbulent flow of a stream, his pace increased, and his steps fastened. The woman looked at him coming closer, she rushed forward and, before William could realise, wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. William stood in her arms, flushed and surprised. Few tears gathered in his eyes, and his eyes closed.

"It's you... right?" William asked. "Auntie Sophia ."

"Yes Will," the woman said. "It's me."

Her hug loosened a bit and then got tighter again. "You're still alive, sweetheart... and you still remember me."

~~

The woman, Aunt Sophia, opened the doors of the shelf in the kitchen with a swing and removed the square-shaped mugs out of it. William, Maya and Rita rested themselves on the chairs, aligned to the table in the dining area. Sophia cleaned the cups with a wet cloth and then dried them with a clean white cloth.

"There is no need for anything right now," Maya said.

"Why, of course, there is," Sophia replied and turned toward William. "William, what was Mary's rule for welcoming the guests?"

"Welcome them and treat them with hot beverages?"

"Exactly," said Sophia. "And you know, it's not optional in my house."

She said in a dominating voice and Maya rolled her eyes. Sophia walked inside towards the kitchen and Maya quickly followed her.

"In that case, you can't stop me from helping you."

"There's no need dear."

"Just like you said, It's not optional."

William chuckled a bit and waited in the dining area with Rita. The house was fairly big but looked quite older than its potential age. But it was maintained well and clean. This part of Assyria welcomed very minimal guests due to it being located very close to that big wall of toxic cloud, the cursed belt. The air present in the area was not toxic, but very few people outside this area know that. That massive cloud wall haunts anyone who sees it, preventing them from coming close to the area.

But on the bright side, this area was less populated and had a peaceful environment. Nature was not harsh and people were understanding. The lady at the royal house of Assyria gave them the choice to relocate from the place to somewhere away and safe from the belt. But they vetoed the offer and chose to stay in this 'peaceful paradise', as the people here like calling it.

William looked around, observed the interior of the house, and observed the way Sophia went for a minimalistic approach to designing. After waiting for a while, Maya walked out of the cooking place cleaning her hands. Followed by Sophia, wearing her blue apron, holding the four mugs in the tray tightly. Maya took her seat on the opposite side of the table and helped Sophia to keep the tray down.

"Why is one mug empty?" William asked.

"'cause I won't drink coffee," Sophia said. "I will take wine."

She said and opened the small doors of the shelf at the corner, removed a big glass bottle out of it and placed it on the table. Sophia took her place near Maya and opened the bottle cap.

"Of course, you will take that poison instead of coffee."

"Stop acting like that," Sophia said. "Not every alcoholic drink is meant to damage your body."

"Whatever," Maya said with a tone of denial. "keep telling yourself."

Three of them had their hot beverages while Sophia enjoyed her big mug of wine, which was refilled two times. Sophia, while drinking, glanced toward Rita and kept her mug down on the tray.

"You must be Rita, right?" Sophia asked.

Rita's eyes met Sophia's glance and she separated her mug from her lips, said: "Yes, that's me. I don't remember meeting you earlier. How did you know?"

Sophia leaned back, resting her back on her chair and crossing her arms in a fold. "Well... Mary told me about you."

"What?!" William and Maya said it out together with surprised expressions, keeping their mugs down on the table.

"What, why do you guys look surprised?" Sophia gave a casual look at them. "Mary visited me sometimes in the past decade."

"How did you know Mary?" Rita asked

"You mean for the first time?" Sophia said. "Mary visited me for the first time with Maya and William. That time William was around four and could walk like an adorable penguin."

"That's enough, Auntie Sophia ."

"Quiet William, the lady asked me." Sophia protested. "Let me talk."

"So, where was I?" Sophia continued. "Yes, William and Maya looked adorable when they came here with her. Just like two cubs, following their mother lion." She paused for a while and kept looking at her wine mug. "Then one day... she came in the heavy rain, knocking on my door. Her dress was tainted by blood stains all over."

"Covered in Blood?" Rita said in a curious tone.

"Let me complete, sweetie., Sophia said. "The time was in the evening. I made Joe sleep early 'cause it was raining heavily. Around 9 at night, the main door knocked. I kept the dishes aside and dried my hands. The knocking didn't stop. I curiously walked faster and opened the doors to see her, carrying William in her arms, her sweet dress was tainted with blood stains. Her arms were wounded. I took her in and closed the doors."

"Auntie Sophia," Maya asked when she was done. "Did she tell you what happened with her and William?"

"She refused to say even a word about it," Sophia said. "But I didn't force her. She must have had her reasons. I bathed William and took him to the bed beside Joe and once he closed his eyes, took Mary for a bath. I undressed her just to see the deadly scars and wounds all over her back and her arms, which made me shiver in fear. She still didn't say anything about it."

"S-scars?... wounds?"

"Yes, sweetheart..." Sophia said and paused for a moment, taking another sip from her wine mug. "that day, you did look very scared, but you were brought here safely. There was not a single scratch on you. But Mary was wounded like someone on a battlefield."

"What did you do?"

"Naturally, while bathing her, I cleaned her wounds," Sophia said, while those memories splashed in front of her eyes.

She remembered how, while Mary was sitting silently in the bathtub, her clean, warm hands moved all over her back and arms, cleaning and cleansing her wounds to avoid infection. The whole time, Mary stayed calm as if she was forced to not utter a word. Sophia remembered how Mary's body trembled, moved and resisted sometimes when her hands touched the bloody wounds.

The injuries and the body were cleaned. Mary, gripping Sophia's hands tightly, stood up and got out of the tub. Sophia dried Mary's body and wrapped her in a soft towel, walked her to the bed and dried her shiny silver-white hairs. Mary, still, didn't talk. After sealing the wounds and stitching the injuries, when Sophia gave Mary a small session of shoulder and head massage, Mary turned her head.

"What if they came here, searching for me?" Mary finally spoke with her emotionless face.

"Who is searching for you, sweetie?" Sophia calmly asked.

"I don't know who," Mary said with no expression. "But what if they came?"

"Sweetie, If you don't tell me who, how can I help you out?"

"Everything was so good," Mary said. "William, Maya, me... then they came. Those dark creatures, DeSadians, as they called themselves. They were different, strong... and then... everything was lost."

"Your strength exceeds the higher beings," Sophia said. "Did you not stop them?"

"I tried," Maya said. "But their strength was beyond anything I ever faced. One of them, Valefor, as he called himself, was enough to destroy all my traps and divine seals."

"Where's Maya?" Sophia said, with an anxious face. "Why was she not with you?"

"Maya..." Mary said, in a cold tone. "Maya... she ran away. Tried to distract those creatures from me and William. I don't know where she is... how she is."

Tears came running down from her eyes, her face showing expressions of regret, emptiness.

"It's okay... don't worry. I know Maya. She's a strong one, I'm sure she's safe."

Sophia took Mary to a different bed and helped her to sleep. Mary's physically and emotionally tired body didn't took much time to lose herself in sleep. Sophia closed the door from outside and walked out of the house. Stood in the front yard, facing the road ahead.

'Cursed arts,' she spelt 'Walls of Gracefeel.'

Following her spell, a flame ball appeared some distance ahead of the house. The ball started moving, moved in a circular path, covering all the sections of the house. The flames and its speed increased, making it look like a circular wall or a shield with a big radius around the house. After a while the flame ball stopped, creating a circular burning mark on the ground, which, if needed, would work as a strong barrier. No one would be able to enter the circle unless the spell user wishes to.

As Sophia, having her wine, kept telling the incident of that night many years ago, the anxious expressions kept increasing on Rita's face. William half froze in shock and half showed signs of confusion.

"Is that why... Valefor was after her in Zora?" William said in a low voice.

"Can't deny the possibility," Rita said.

"I feel like being blank about all this," William said. "Why do I not remember these things?"

"William. mayb-"

"William!" Maya awkwardly said, interrupting Sophia. "Can you pass me the glass with water?"

Her voice was louder and clear. William gave a confused look, said, "uh... sure?" and passed her the glass filled with water nearby. As he slid the glass across the table, there was a sound of a door knock and Maya quickly stood up, sliding the chair behind.

"I will answer it," she said, again with awkwardness and walked away towards the door. The door opened, and a young man was standing outside, dressed in casual clothes, rugged shoes and a slim jacket. His eyes went to the lady, who opened the doors and a smile appeared on his face.

" Big sister Maya," he said in amusement. "Long time no see."

"You too, Joe," Maya said smiling and welcomed him inside the house.

The young man walked inside the house, kept his belongings properly on the living room table and hung the slim jacket near the door and entered the kitchen-dining area. As he entered the dining area, William turned his chair and their eyes met each other. The person, Joe, stood frozen in his place and kept looking at William. William stood up from the chair and glanced at the young man.

"B- brother William?" Joe said and there was a big pause. Joe looked at William for a while, looked in his eyes, at his cheeks, his eyebrows. "Brother William," He said again. "It... has been a while."

"You... you're big now," William said. "It sure has-"

Before William would complete, Joe quickly came closer, his hands wrapped around William, and chin on his shoulder, giving him a genuine tight hug. A surprised expression appeared on William's face as he flushed, trying to read the room. William's hands rose, wrapping Joe in a hug.

"That was rather unexpected... Brother Joe."

"Don't be formal with me," Joe said, still in a hug. "Just call me Joe, like you always did."

William smiled and stood quiet. Joe released the hug and William sat back down on his chair. Before Joe could sit next to William's chair, Sophia stood up and softly punched him in the head.

"Change your work clothes and freshen up young man," she said. "William ain't going anywhere."

"You could have just said it, Sweet mother," Joe replied, as he stood up from the chair and walked a little behind. "No need to hit in the head."

"Then you better learn some manners," Sophia said. "Meal will be ready soon, freshen up and change your clothes."

"Yeah, Mother."

Joe said and walked upstairs from the room nearby. Sophia kept the wine bottle aside and walked to the kitchen room. Maya followed her to the kitchen. William signalled Rita to follow him and they both walked outside the house.

The time was of the evening. The sun, which rarely showed up, was sunken below the horizon, only keeping its golden rays shining in the clouds above. The clouds of the golden hours. William and Rita walked around the house vicinity, looking at the grasslands and the open field around the house.

"William," Rita said. "Can we talk about Mary?"

"What is it?"

"Well, you know about the Zora incident," Rita said. "Mary choose to sacrifice herself. If she wanted, she would have released herself and still saved you, but... she did it to weaken that dark entity so you could stop the manifestation."

"What's the point?"

"It's just... there's a possibility that she might not be..." her voice broke into nervousness. "Well, never mind. Anyways, you never told me about this part of your life." Rita said.

"You mean... about me and Mary coming here?" William asked.

Rita looked at him and casually nodded.

"Will you believe me," William asked. "if I said, I didn't remember this happening with me before?"

"That depends."

"Before Auntie Sophia reminded me," William said. "I didn't remember that. But when she said, the memories came rushing into my head and I remembered. In fact, If I hadn't visited or seen Auntie Sophia today, I would have not remembered her being in my life."

A curious expression appeared on Rita's face as she glanced at William.

"That sounds unusual," Rita said. "How could you not remember someone who was part of your life?"

"I do remember them after seeing them... or getting reacquainted with them," William said. "So, I don't think I forgot them, it's more like- those memories slipped away from my consciousness."

Is this, in any way, related to his memory seal? Rita thought and said, "Don't worry, not like it's a big deal. You do remember it now." she smiled and walked beside him calmly.

The calm wind blew past them, making Rita's hair dance with the flow of it. William's hairs waved a little too. They had not much to talk about. They walked calmly, looking around, trying to not make it awkward.

"Brother William!" the voice came from the main door of the house. "The meal is served, come in."

"Will be there," William said, returning him a smile.

They both walked inside the big old-looking house together and walked towards the dining area. The slightly yellow turned white plates were placed on the table, served with something which looked like spaghetti with some other vegetables.

"Spaghetti..." William said. "That was a surprise."

"What? You thought I'll forget what you like?"

"Well... I guess I thought you'd not remember something... something so old." He said in an awkward tone, which Rita noticed as she glanced at him.

William and Rita rested on their chairs, placed opposite to Sophia's and Maya's to the table. Everyone held each other's hands, forming a circle loop, Sophia closed her eyes and thanked the god for the meal. The dinner began.

"William," Said Auntie Sophia. "Around 5 miles from here, there's a valley. If you walk down, there's a small lake which looks wonderful. You can go there for a bath tomorrow morning."

"Oh, is the shower not working?"

"No, it works well," she said. "But, I think you might like that place. In fact, you might want to visit that place."

"I guess I can visit later some other day."

"If she's insisting," Maya added. "There's nothing wrong in visiting the place for once. I can accompany you there. Of course, I assure you, I won't see you naked. So, don't make a fuss."

There was a genuine requesting tone to Auntie Sophia's and Maya's speaking. William noticed it, stood silent for a while and agreed to it without arguing any further.

Joe seemed very excited by William's arrival and talked many things about his work, his life, and times when William was not with him and Auntie Sophia. William, for the most part, felt confused, and alienated but pretended to remember all the things of his past, his time in Assyria and with them. The dinner ended. Maya and Rita helped Sophia with the dishes and the kitchen cleanup while William walked towards the barn nearby with Joe, talking on casual topics.

For an instant, William felt like telling Joe about him, about how, for some reason, he do not remember the time with him and Auntie Sophia, but he resisted. The smile on Joe's face and Auntie Sophia's cheerful face stopped him from saying a word about it.

As the darkness of the night covered the sky, they went inside. Maya requested Auntie Sophia to arrange their beds in the barn outside, near the main residence. William and Rita supported Maya's decision, convincing Auntie Sophia. According to Rita, the barn was spacious, unexpectedly clean, comfortable and well lit with the yellow oil-powered fire torches from inside.

There was a knock on the barn door, an unnoticeably silent knock. The time was past midnight. Maya, who rested herself near the doors, woke up cautiously and looked around. She stood silent for a while.

Another silent knock on the door.

Maya stood up from her bed and walked toward the door. The doors opened, welcoming Auntie Sophia outside. She stood calm, controlling her life force.

"Is he asleep?" she asked in a very low voice.

"yes, he is,"

Maya opened the doors a bit more and asked Sophia to come inside. They walked towards William's bed. Rita slept on the bed beside him, they maintained silence. Auntie Sophia and Maya walked closer and looked at each other.

"Are you sure this is needed?" Sophia asked in a low voice, looking toward Maya.

"When I first met him... after so many years," Maya said. "I felt something strange about him. I felt Mary's presence with him. It was a fainting energy. Even if it's a small chance, I want to know If my suspicion is true."

Sophia nodded and crouched down towards William. Her hands touched both edges of the bed and she closed her eyes. As her hands applied a small amount of pressure on the wooden edges of the bed, one of her vain showed a faint green glow. The glow moved down and travelled through her arms and her thumbs towards William. The faint spark appeared around his fingertips and moved around as if it was scanning him.

As the glowing fingers faded their light, another faint spark appeared which was felt by Sophia and Maya. Sophia showed a shocked expression. Maya got on her knees, her face calm, and tears crowded her eyes. A faint smile appeared on her face as she leaned her head down.

"Auntie Sophia," Maya asked. "You felt that too, right?"

"I... I did."

Tears escaped her eyes and fell on the floor.

"It was her, right?" she asked, to which Sophia nodded.

"There are two life forces present inside William," she said. "It might be her... She is still here."