Silva took a shower and got into a plain black t-shirt and sweatpants. He walked out of the room; it was already filled with the scent of his sister's cooking, and Amber was there trying to help, well, help was a stretch as she didn't know what she was doing.

She was basically trying to help to catch Silva's attention, but his attention was locked on Noel, who was seated on the paper, leaning forward, hands on his laps like he was afraid of something.

He walked to his side. "Can I have a seat?"

Noel heard the question and almost jumped in fright. He moved quickly, despite the fact that there was already a lot of room. Silva sat down, placing his feet on the table.

"Don't do that, bro," Elle yelled from the kitchen, and he quickly dropped his feet.

Noel saw that and almost laughed, but he held it in. He didn't want to die.

"She is really bossy," Silva said casually.

"Yeah, she always tells me what to do, but not in a bad way. She cares for me and tries to look out for me. I'm pretty much useless on my own," Noel said.

"Yeah, despite her age, her sense of responsibility is nothing to joke about. She is special," Silva said, then leaned forward.

"Up until recently, I didn't know about you, Noel, but now I do, and you are a part of her life now, a very important part of it.

And that scares me, because the last two people that were important to her up and left, and she has been with me since she was younger.

Her trust is thin. She stays alone not because she can't get friends, but because of the scar that was left in her.

I have worked day and night to ensure that I fill the gap, to make sure she doesn't feel the absence. I couldn't do it all, but I gave my all and dedicated everything I did to her," Silva said, a soft smile forming on his face.

"I would literally die for her happiness, to ensure she smiled another day. That's how important she is to me.

So with you in the picture, it makes me worry a bit, because she has come to trust someone finally, and it scares me because you can just, like, one day up and leave her."

"I would never do something like that," Noel said. He turned and looked Silva right in the eye. "If I may, I love your sister to the end and back. Her playful character, her sense of responsibility, how she can be lazy at times and more, and I would never trade that," Noel said.

Silva let out a pained sigh. "If only I could believe what you said, but you are sixteen, and many people make useless promises of love at this age.

Honestly, I want to threaten you, but I won't, because what use will it be to force you to stay with a threat when you no longer like her?

But let me tell you ahead, if the time ever came that you hurt her, I want you to run, run as far away as possible from her, because if you don't and I find you…" He stopped there and smiled; he could see the sweat forming on Noel's head.

"Beyond that, welcome to the family, bro," Silva said with a smile and stretched out his hand to dab him up. Noel swallowed hard and dabbed Silva.

"Good, now let's eat."

[....]

The next day, Silva arrived at Elena's building, and before he could get in, a black car honked at him, so he walked to it, and the door opened.

He got in. Inside was Lily in the back seat, Elena in the front, and Andrew in the driver's seat.

"Hey." Lily waved at Silva.

Silva waved back and got in. He shut the door, and immediately Andrew started driving.

"The members of the cult are held in a maximum-security prison a five-hour drive away from here in the mountains," Elena said. She turned her head. "So buckle up, it's going to be a long drive."

As their journey continued, Silva decided to ask a question. "Lady Elena, what do you know about the old earth, before the zone?"

She was silent for a while, then she spoke. "It was a better place than what we live in today. Seven continents, filled with countries and people that lived normal lives without the fear of death looming over them.

Now what exists are the five islands, and inside them are the zones. The seas are covered in gates, and within the water are horrors unimaginable," she said. Her expression turned grim as she spoke.

"All that's in the past, a past way long ago. We should worry about the present," Lilly said. She fell sideways and planted her head on Silva's lap. She looked up at him.

"But sometimes I wonder, why change the names of everything as if trying to bury the past?" she said and then closed her eyes.

'Yeah, why change the names? The Awakened guild were the ones that did that all those years ago, but why did they feel the need to do that? Humanity wouldn't have changed otherwise,' Silva thought.

Just like Elena had said, the drive was long. It took them out of the state and into a desert-like area, where some desert-formed mountains were in the distance.

When they got close, he spotted a gap in the mountain large enough for a car to drive through. Andrew drove the car through there, going deeper for about five minutes, then he stopped.

"From here we walk," Elena said and opened her door.

They all got down, and she led the way. Silva used his sensing to scan the area as he picked up a ton of different cameras hidden in the mountain and watching them.

'I guess this place is really a serious maximum security. What sort of criminals do they keep here?'