Running on his fours, Ai halts in his track when he hears a strange sound. His little nose twitches a few times, trying to sense something. The castle is empty. The hallways are filled with harrowing silence. Only his breathing sound is heard by him.

He hastens toward the scent. Everything inside him is being pulled toward it. He doesn't know what it is or why it's happening to him. He blinks his eyes several times, trying to control himself. His instincts are telling him to stop. At the same time, something is calling to him. He hesitates for a few moments. He could tell that it would fill the emptiness inside him. The need to acquire it and become whole overpowers his rational thoughts. He dashes toward the room in the end of the hall.

Inside the room, only darkness welcome him. He prowls around the room, looking for the thing that attracted him to this place.

The door is closed. The scent is also gone.

Ai freezes on the spot. After his rationality returns, he blinks his eyes several times. What happened to him? He straightens his back. In the darkness, he can't see anything. Not even himself. He could even hear the sound of his heart beating aberrantly. Not wanting to waste another moment, he tries to open the door to the place that he calls home. No matter what he does, it doesn't open again. He screams in frustration and fear.

"Where is she?"

A dark and emotionless voice echoes through the room. Ai turns his head, trying to find the source. The little child panics when something wraps around his ankles and wrists. In the next instant, he's pulled in all directions.

"Aaaaaaah!" Ai shrieks in pain. "Release me."

A figure emerges from the darkness and steps toward the child. The creature's body is covered with a layered of darkness. He could smell Ari's scent on the creature. "If you answer me, I will give you a painless end."

The child starts crying instead of answering, much to Adira's annoyance. He clenches his teeth and grabs the child's head. "I know that you were wronged. But it's better to die than exist as a nameless creature. You didn't hurt Ari, did you? "

"Bad God." Ai glares at Adira. "I will never tell you where she is."

The Dark God has been acting patiently with this creature after considering what this creature had to go through. But there's a limit. That limit is Ari. He has already forgiven this creature for taking his Ari away. Now, this creature is refusing to tell where she is… That is unacceptable. Maybe he should kill it now and take a look at the memories to find out where she is. Adira raises his claw to dig out the heart of the nameless creature.

"Adira!" Ari's loud scream pierces through the darkness. In the darkness, she's shimmering like the stars, watching him with wide eyes. Adira lowers his hand and takes long strides toward her. She doesn't look hurt. When he reaches for her hand, she steps back.

"What were you doing?" She furrows her brows. "He's a kid."

"Ari, I was only…" Adira exhales. He knows that her principles are different. "He's not really a kid."

"He's a kid to me." She folds her fingers, resisting the urge to punch his face. "Adira, are you really going to kill him?"

"Yes." Adira could see that she has become attached to the creature. For some reasons, he has expected this outcome. That's just how she is. "He needs to die."

"I won't let you kill him." Ari steps between him and Ai. "Release him now."

Is she going to fight with him because of a nameless creature? Adira sowls at her. "He might seem like a kid right now, but he will become more violent with time. His soul will erode away and he will become a creature who will hurt anything that he will see. He will also get hurt. It's better to put him out of this misery instead of letting him become a creature who loses his soul eventually."

Ari becomes silent, staring at him with her dark eyes. She hasn't expected this. Ril'Yah did tell her everything. But this… She asks him with a small voice. "How could you act like this?"

He takes a deep breath. It must be difficult for her to understand. Gods can't always be merciful. There are times when a god has to act cruelly. What started with a god's cruelty toward Amara's lover must end with his cruelty toward this nameless creature. There's no other way. "Ari, nameless creatures can't be saved. You are wasting your kindness on him. Don't become attached to that creature."

" Ha!" She looks at him with disappointment in her eyes. "It's funny that you have forgotten everything. If I had left you inside that dark prison that day, you would have been stuck there. If I always saw you as a creature who was going to kill me, would you and I stand here today? Ai is like you. Belan always saw her as someone who was going to kill her. That's why he became like this. What happened to him was wrong. Because of Kresi's mistake, he had to live with someone like Belan and he ended up losing his true name. Why did Kresi make that mistake? That also started with you and all the other gods. Did they have to make this world so cruel to the cursed children? Was there no other solution than killing them like that? Instead of taking responsibility for the mistakes, all of you only know killing."

She's frustrated. It feels like she died in vain. The world is still the same if a child like Ai has to die. Ari inhales sharply and meets his dark gaze. "It was better if I was never resurrected."

"Ari, don't say that." Adira creases his forehead. Only he knows how those days were. "Why is that creature so important to you?"

"Because he reminds me of you," Ari yells at him. "I died because I loved you. I didn't want a war. I didn't want Kyo to die. I wanted this world to become better. Is it still the same world where Mirai and Pebby had to become slaves for protection? Is it the same world that would have hated Kyo because of some lame prophecy?"

Adira purses his lips. He doesn't know how to answer. He understands what she's saying, but letting a nameless creature live is against the laws. "A nameless creature is different, Ari. He's not like Kresi or you. He has to be put to death."

A silence falls between them. Ai's little sobs fill the darkness of the room. He could make sense of what was going on. Pretty Sister is trying to save him. "Pretty Sister, I don't want to die."

Both of them hears Ai's pleadings. There's no change in Adira's expression. It's something that needs to be done. It's easier to kill a nameless creature than give him a new name. That's how things are always done. Then again, giving a new name is nearly impossible due to some circumstances. The power to give a new name is no longer in the hands of the gods.

"If Ai is hurt, it's the end of our relationship." Ari tells him with a straight voice, "Do you hear me? Forget about the wedding. I will not even look at your face anymore."