The house of the Neswitts felt awfully empty. It felt like a place where memories were once made, and is now abandoned.

But that's not true at all. It only felt like it had been discarded, left behind for ruin. Yes—this house isn't abandoned—there's still souls living inside.

Those souls were a pair named Hans Neswitt and Alice Neswitt (née Bennett), father and mother respectively to their two children, Eyvonne and Ernie. However, now that the latter two have gone for the Other Side, the whole house felt empty, but what's more empty was their hearts.

With their own two kids gone, it felt like they've lost the most important things in their world. No matter how they lamented about it, the fact that they will never come back is set in stone. Even so, a lingering hope floats in their heart, believing that one day, they might return, no matter how small a chance that may be.

Ever since Ernie's departure, Alice has been bawling her eyes out from days on end, muttering that she'd done her only son wrong. Hans, who couldn't bear to watch his wife being so depressed, tried his hardest to cheer her up, but what came as the results was ironically the opposite.

Hans was infected by Alice's grief as well.

He didn't cry all day—that's not his way of letting out his emotions—instead, he kept to himself, not wanting to talk to anyone else, while taking more and more regular breaks from his job, ending his daily spree of keeping his own physique in check, and stopped shaving as his beard only grew thicker.

Long story short, the pair of parents who have lost their children are in a depressive episode. After all, losing them to that mysterious portal and never coming back again is almost equivalent to experiencing your own children die. They could practically be called vilomah now.

Upon several days of hauling themselves up in their own house and preceding the climax of their depressive state, Alice has made up her mind. By now, her tears must have dried up.

For these past few days, she had a lot of time to think. Think about the things that she's been doing up until now, and the things she did in the past. She mulled about her past actions—as well as her husband's—and realized that something felt wrong.

She felt that most of her vivid memories were of Eyvonne, and that Ernie—despite being her youngest child—makes up only a fraction of those memories. And then, what's more, most of the praising and congratulating went to Eyvonne. Ernie really did get the short end of the stick.

Only now did Alice figure out why Ernie became so distant. It was because she, along with Hans, was favoring Eyvonne over Ernie. But their favoring isn't typical—it went a league or two beyond, to reprimanding Ernie for being so salty about his neglection. They didn't abuse him—that would outright be a crime—but what they did couldn't be completely justified either.

So it was my—no, Hans's as well—mistake, she thought. How did I not see? I let my own child suffer to this extent, to the point that he's even constantly putting out hints, but at the end, I was blind to his efforts. And to think I believed I was being a good parent...

With that as her final push, Alice resolved herself to put things straight. She didn't want to let those mistakes go on for any longer, and surely not when the victim isn't here anymore. She wanted to put an end to all of it, to fix what's been broken, and to clean what's been tainted. She made up her mind to not bend to other's words anymore. She'll be the one to set what Ernie left behind on the right track.

Because that's the least she can do.

Of course, doing so doesn't mean fixing everything—what's done in the past is set in the past, and that can't be changed. Alice knows that.

But. even so, she decided to at least stop it from spiralling down any further. Even if her efforts are futile, even if the person she's doing this for is as good as gone—she'll do it all, because that's what she decided.

So, first of all, what she needs to do is set herself straight. If she wants to help someone else, then she needs to help herself first.

With light steps, she entered her en suite bathroom, washed her face, put on a new layer of makeup, fixed her hair, straightened herself, and took a breather. Her eyes are now set on one goal—to rebuild the thing she's made collapse. She'll take her next steps one by one, slowly but surely making it all right again.

Following herself, the next person will naturally be her husband, Hans. Right now, he's lying on the sofa in the living room, staring blankly into the television screen that's been screening for hours now.

Alice sighed as she took in the sight in front of her. Seeing her husband in such a sad state, and to think she'd been like this before. That's all the more reason for doing what she resolved herself to.

With heavier and fiercer steps, she walked in front of Hans, blocking his line of sight from the television screen. With a new figure onstructing his view, Hans snapped back to reality as his eyes traced the slender legs up to the familiar body and face of his own wife. She looked fresh, reprimanded and ready to go, much unlike how she looked just a few minutes ago.

Hans took several seconds to realize that his wife had changed. Raising his brows, he noticed the stern look on Alice's face, her amrs on both sides of her hip.

"Hans."

"...Alice?" Hans squinted through his square glasses, trying to recognize this woman who seemed so different, yet so familiar, standing crossly right in front of him.

"Hans. You need to get yourself together." Immediately, upon advising her husband, Alice's face contorted from a stern glare to a soft, yet solemn expression.

"...Alice, why do you seem so... cheery, all of a sudden...?" Hans was confused by the abrupt change in his wife's tone.

"I've been thinking. A lot." Ushering her husband to sit up, Alice took the seat next to Hans on the same sofa. "You know... about our kids, and what we're supposed to do now."

"Yes...?" Hans said slowly.

"And what I've come to realize—from brooding on the past—is that Ernie wasn't treated right."

"...What do you mean?"

"I walked through my memories while I was grieving, and saw that most of them were of Eyvonne... what I'm trying to say is that we've neglected Ernie."

"Honey... do you know what you're saying? I don't believe we've been ignoring him at all. ...Well, maybe sometimes, but it's not like we're not abusing him or anything, right?"

"Of course not. I can't begin to think of doing such things, but what we did wasn't right, either. I understand now why Ernie became so aggresive towards us, and especially towards Eyvonne."

"What? Is he not just feeling a bit of envy towards his sister?"

"That's not wrong, but he's very much past jealousy. I know it. Envy and jealousy was only the start of it. As time went on, and as we centered our focus on Eyvonne more and more, that jealousy inside Ernie evolved. It went from simply envy to a sort of hatred."

"Hatred...? Are you sure you know what you're saying here, Alice?"

"Of course I am. Even if this was just guesswork, I have a very strong hunch that it's true. That explains a lot of the things that Ernie did. Locking himself up in his own room, lashing out at us and Eyvonne, working so hard by himself even when we offered him help—it was all so he could prove himself.

"That hatred that was born inside of him... it used to be directed at us, but things took a turn for the worst and it slowly gnawed at his own mind, forcing him to also hate himself. He probably thinks he's not good enough, so to prove that that's wrong, he resolved himself to refuse our help, and to learn and grow by himself.

"To be honest, I'm impressed that he can go so far without other people giving him aid. Maybe he could've been just as good as Eyvonne, if only things went better..." At that note, Alice trailed off at the end of her rant.

Hans only looked silently at Alice. He was unsure of what to say to these inarticulate accusations. But, thinking about it for a little, everything did seem to fit together, like a jigsaw puzzle all coming together. Could this actually be the reason?

"I know it's hard to swallow, and I didn't want to believe it either. But think about it—what drove Ernie to hate us so much that he hated himself as well? Simple neglection and envy isn't enough to push someone over that edge."

"If not for neglection or envy, then..." Hans racked his brains, struggling to think of that final reason to set this theory in stone. Then, it clicked. "Then... it could only be because of those talking down on him...!"

Alice nodded. "You're right on the mark. As if adding salt to a wound, those friends of ours started to compare Eyvonne and Ernie, calling out the latter for not being good enough. They started to smack talk him, saying he's not a fraction of Eyvonne, but that's not true. If only they'd given him time to flourish. He could've been amazing—I'm sure of it."

"...You're right. This all sounds so weird, but what you said just might be the truth behind it all. I'll... excuse myself, for a bit."

Alice nodded again, but with a smile on her face now. "Take your time, alright?"

"I'll take all the time in the world."

***

In the living room again, but now days later with a guest in their accomodation. Alice and Hans have already fixed themselves up prim and proper, and now they're ready to become functioning members of society again.

What's more, they've got a new mindset. From this very moment onwards, they'll start to fix the things they've broken, repairing it all slowly.

"Say, where is that Ernie brat? Haven't seen him around for a while," the visitor said.

Hearing the word "brat" and how easily their visitor insulted their own son, Hans and Alice couldn't forgive that.

"Please refrain from calling Ernie a brat," retorted Alice, with firm eyes blazing with fire. Her entire posture was as if she's asserting dominance.

"Uh... what?" Dumbfounded by what Alice said, the visting friend looked at her, then her husband, with their mouth agape.

Then, as if finally digesting those words, the visitor spoke again.

"What's with you, Alice...? It was just a slip of my tongue, that's all. No need to be so aggressive—"

"No. Slip of the tongue or not, what you're saying is not justified. You mustn't say such things to anyone, especially not my child, who hasn't done anything wrong to you."

As if prepared for the counterattack, Hans cut off his visitor with a clean comeback. Even if saying such things will bring more bad than good, Hans has already resolved his mind, too. He won't back down now.

"...Not you as well, Hans? What is it? Has Ernie also gone away with Eyvonne into fantasy land? Hah! That must be it."

"You're right on the mark, actually. But don't go changing the topic now. What stands is that you're being unkind to someone completely innocent," said Hans, crossing his hands.

The visitor was speechless, looking back and forth between Alice and Hans, who both had eyes that blazed with a newfound light.

As the two bantered off, Alice thought in her mind, Ernie, I hope you're enjoying yourself, wherever you are. Don't let what other people say get to you ever again. I hope you'll appreciate our efforts, even if you're not here anymore...

I know this is selfish of me, but I also hope that, one day, you'll forgive us. We'll do our best to set things straight for you, so please, keep fighting, just as we are fighting for you!