Hal Sharp appeared in a small alley, behind a house that a family of Dryads lived in. However, he wasn't there for them, nor was this any kind of social call. He merely appeared there because he knew it was a safe place to, where nobody would see him. And he looked rather panicked.

'Damn it!' he thought, as he started to run.

'How could this have happened!?' he exclaimed mentally, making his way to the house that was his goal.

A while ago, he'd given his best medic, Angela, a dangerous artefact to safeguard... but it was pointless and useless without its matching counterpart, hence why he thought it would be safe with her, and she would be safe while she held it.

It seemed he was wrong.

Mere minutes ago, a woman showed up at his office with chilling news. The book and the pen had been reunited, and Angela was in deep trouble. He was also informed that the book and pen were responsible for his top tech in R&D, Kiah Remmington-Fyrane, to be in a state where her very life was in jeopardy.

So he needed to get there, and he needed to get there NOW.

As he quickly approached the front door, he saw that it was slightly ajar, which worried him even MORE.

'No, no, no, no, NO!' echoed throughout his mind, as he reached the door and burst through it, scared of what he would find inside. There was no time for plans or subtlety. This was a time for action.

"......" Hal was silent as he witnessed all this, his brain trying to process what had happened, but he then shook his head and raced over towards the two of them.

"Angela! Olivia!" he exclaimed, checking their vitals.

He found them both to be alive... but barely. They needed medical attention, and they needed it NOW.

He bit his lip and used his mana to lift the two of them up, before they all disappeared from where they were, appearing in the emergency entrance of a hospital... one specifically for mages and mythicals.

"Someone, help!" he called out.

"These two could die if they're not seen immediately!" he added, referring to Liv and Angela.

As these questions swirled in his mind, he found himself growing more and more uneasy and almost panicked.

'How could this have happened?' he thought, before pausing. 'Wait, she told me. Ana.' he then realized, leaning forward and gnashing his teeth.

'WHY did this happen?' he asked himself.

He knew he wouldn't get any answers, though. So he got up and briefly stepped outside where he could use his cell phone.

"I need to tell him." he said. "But it seems he's been unreachable for a while now..." he mumbled further, before it came to him.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, before dialing the only other person he could think of right now; Aimee LeBlanc.

Sharp just sighed quietly.

"I have a message for your son." he told her.

He then proceeded to tell her what he had encountered, what he had saw, what happened, and what he had done to try and help Liv and Angela, as well as where they were currently.

"Please let him know ASAP." he said.

"He deserves to know about this." he reasoned.

"Thank you." Sharp replied.

"And I'm sorry for the circumstances that I am contacting you." he told her. "I truly wish it could have been under more fortunate circumstances." he added.

"But I digress, I will let you go." he then said.

"I'll let you know if they are discharged in the meantime, but... I highly doubt they will." he admitted.

"They... looked rather horrible..." he said candidly.

Yuri was silent as he heard this.

"Very well." he replied.

"Things here are starting to wind down anyway." he told her.

"He'll be home within 5 minutes or so." he finished.

With that, the conversation was ended, and... sure enough, within 5 minutes, Zeke returned home.

"Mom?" she heard him call out to her.

"I'm home!"

"........" Zeke was silent as he heard his mother say what she did.

"That's ominous." he said.

"Extremely ominous." he muttered.

He then sighed, and sat down in the nearest chair.

"Usually it's best to sit in a situation like this." he commented.

"...what's up?" he asked hesitantly.

As Aimee spoke to her son, she saw a range of emotions flash through his eyes, and show through in his expression.

Shock... disbelief... anger... guilt... sorrow... none of them were pleasant. But there was one thing she noticed that was a constant in all he was showing.

She could sense an underlying rage within him. One that she was familiar with, as she had seen it with his father. Back then, the rage wasn't directed at her, but towards someone that had nearly taken her life... and that rage was something she'd never seen before. The rage of an archangel.

"Damn it..." he cursed.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it..." he repeated.

"I'll kill her." he then hissed.

"I'll find that bitch... and I'll murder her." he snarled, his hands tightly clenched into fists.

At first, Zeke's rage seemed to just intensify... until it suddenly disappeared.

"...I..." he stammered.

"You're.... you're right..." he admitted.

"You're absolutely right. I need to get there, and I need to be with them." he agreed. "They need me. Now, more than ever before." he reasoned.

He then paused for a moment, let out a long and drawn-out sigh, and looked towards the floor, biting his lip.

"...damn it..." he cursed again, but this time it was much quieter, and filled with sadness.

"...I failed them..." he said to himself.

"........." Zeke was silent once more.

".......yeah." he then said.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." he repeated.

He then lurched forward and wrapped his arms around his mother, holding her close. As he did so, Aimee could feel how close he was to tears.

But it seemed like he was also trying to compose himself, and she knew he'd be doing it for Angela and Liv. He'd at least act like he was composed and calm.