Chapter 21: Mikaela’s Grief

Mitchell carried little Mikaela and left the silent dining room. The gloom and tension remained, dense enough to cut through. The faces of Bianca and Lucien could not be any more downcast. Merlin was lost in thought as he stared blankly for a long while. Nobody could propose ending dinner just yet.

Mitchell and Anette walked through the halls of the house. The silence enhanced the echo of their footsteps as they passed the rooms.

"Dear, why not tell me about this?" whispered Mitchell. 

Despite its low volume, his voice didn't fail to reach Anette. Anette paused a bit before looking back at him. Her ruby eyes tended to shine with a heavy glint in the darkness. The natural ability of a weapon master to have night vision.

"Mitchell, you are a lot like Mikaela. You would try countless times to convince me otherwise. I would not be sure to reject every single request you make. I can only bring myself to say it when there is no turning back," responded Anette. 

Mitchell didn't say anything against that as it was the truth. He would try to convince her otherwise. After setting Mikaela who had fainted on his bed, they left the room.

Within their bedroom was a plain and simple layout with hardly any fancy or extravagant decorations, except a few vase flowers handpicked by Mitchell.

"Besides, everyone else has their hands full, Bianca is needed here to monitor the children's condition and take care of their meals, Merlin is teaching Lucien while working on some magic spells, and you are teaching Mikaela. He needs you here when I am not around." Anette patiently explained why it had to be her.

Mitchell was silent at such an explanation. He never knew such a heartless woman had a heart too. She would waver if he tried to convince her. She would also put others' duties before her desires. Maybe conceiving of Mikaela was more miraculous than anything he could imagine. 

"I will miss you, dear." Mitchell hugged her tightly. He could only bring himself to say goodbye and wish her the best. 

That night, Anette sneaked out of the village and found the weakest point in the barrier where she activated a teleportation magic scroll, directly leaving the vicinity.

…

The next day at dawn, the whole household was woken up with a shrill dejected cry.

Mikaela woke up early, earlier than usual, and ran out to find his mother. He would have loved to think of the last night as a dream if not for its clear vividness and the nightmares that haunted him all night. Even if it were nothing but as such, a nightmare, he still had to see his mother.

The first sight he met was a downcast Mitchell, his father, seated in the living room staring at the ceiling listlessly and blankly with a glass with golden liquid in hand. His coffee-brown eyes were unfocused in deep thought.

"Two years…," muttered Mitchell.

"Papa! W-where is Mama?" asked Mikaela directly. He didn't plan to beat around the bush.

Mitchell was stunned sober by that sudden call. He didn't want his son to see him in such a messy state, so he fumbled to wipe his face and mouth and drowned the rest of the liquid in his glass. He rubbed his eyes as if just woken up from a long dream, then looked at Mikaela.

"Son, w-what?" he asked, having missed the questions' contents while fumbling.

"Where is Mom, Papa?" 

Mikaela walked closer trying to pass by him to run into the bedroom and find her himself. Mitchell became silent. He didn't know quite exactly how to answer such a question, nor could he lie to his child. Not such a delicate lie. 

'Should I tell him she could be anywhere in the world searching for magic and spells that probably don't exist, or she could be in grave danger all alone, without anywhere to rest or anyone to rely on? Maybe the whole world is in a surge of finding and tracking her in hopes of finding us….? What can I say?' Mitchell's thoughts echoed in his mind like the endlessly stabbing pins in his heart. 

The fragility of it threatened to break into tears, but not in front of his son. His hand only trembled hidden from sight.

Mikaela panicked at the lack of response and started running to the bedroom only to find it empty, the rest of the house was also empty. He frantically called out to his mother while running around and sometimes double-checking. 

"Mamma!!"

This was the morning call for the household and their neighbor, the Alaric's.

…

The next few days passed by as if he had lost his soul. Mikaela would stare off into the distance whenever nothing was going on. His habits of finding trouble all over in curiosity and troubling Lucien in playfulness abruptly decreased.

"Kaela, come out, let's visit the village," proposed Lucien.

He witnessed most of this change since he could now do whatever without disturbances. Up until now, he had gotten what he wanted most but it didn't settle well with him. He didn't want to imagine himself in Mikaela's situation so he thought of a way to help.

In reaction to that, Lucien opted to be more active. Not just for the promise to his Aunt, but he couldn't bear seeing the child who was like a little brother to him look lost and helpless. 

"Okay," said Mikaela.

It had become a constant answer to the majority of things. 'Yes, no, sure, okay, maybe, I'm tired' and many more unmotivated answers were responses the family got.

They had a silent walk to the village outskirts where they would meet their friend group. 

"Hey guys," waved Gustav as usual. 

"Hey," responded Lucien. 

Mikaela said the same making Gustav frown a bit.

"What is wrong?" asked Gustav, perspective as always.

Nora came from behind Gustav and Jamie beside her.

"You look down, Mika." said Nora, making Mikaela flinch, "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing!" said Mikaela and Lucien in haste at the same time, making them look at each other. 

"I'm fine," Mikaela added in an attempt to differentiate his answer from Lucien's.

His competitive spirit passively rose in him.

"Sure, Let us play, guys. You have not come over for days. We were bored without you," said Nora, in complaint with her high tone.

There was a short silence. Lucien didn't know what to answer and Mikaela was lost in thought.

"...Actually, I wanted to tell you I will not be coming over very often. I have to help Father hunt," said Mikaela, after a short hesitation. 

He was more composed now. 

He had resolved to grow stronger.

(┬┬﹏┬┬)