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Before departing for Nirvana, Ashton had mentioned it might be three months before he was back. But seeing as he was back earlier than expected, it could either be a blessing or a curse, and Ricochet wasn\'t going to take any chances either way.

\'Hopefully, it\'s the former, but it\'s better to be prepared for the worst. I don\'t want to see that man rage ever again.\' Ricochet thought as he was reminded of what happened back on Occuna.

Little did he know the anger Ashton had felt back at Occuna was nothing compared to his current raging eyes.

Everyone gathered around the ship as soon as it landed, with Avalina standing in front. While everyone else was excited regarding their lord\'s return, Avalina\'s motherly intuition insinuated something was terribly wrong, and she wasn\'t wrong.

The smiles and laughs disappeared when the ship\'s doors were flung open. Anna led the group out, and her glum expression was all it took to let everybody know something was off.

Following Anna was a group of unidentified people. Surprisingly, no one bothered to ask who they were and what they were doing with Anna. To tell the truth, it didn\'t seem like anyone even cared about them. Instead, everyone held their breaths, waiting for Ashton to exit the ship.

The moment finally arrived, but Avalina fell to her knees as soon as she saw her son. Ashton did not exit the ship alone; a carefully draped corpse was in his arms. No one knew who it was, but Avalina did... her worst fears had become a reality.

It had been years since she had made peace with the thought of Johnathan\'s death, or so she had been fooling herself. Deep in her heart, Avalina had been waiting for Johnathan to return so their family would finally reunite. Sadly, her dreams were shattered.

"Everyone, leave."

Ashton\'s voice was colder ice, void of any emotion. Despite being worried about their lord\'s well-being, everyone followed his command, leaving him alone with Avalina.

All of them had their guesses, but none voiced them. For now, silence and peace were valued more than answers. Silence... that accompanied a storm.

Mera was the last to leave. The guilt of her crimes was gnawing at her from the inside. Even though she knew Johnathan had planned everything, including his death, she couldn\'t help but blame herself for sending him off to his doom.

Despite wanting to stay and support Avalina, she knew it was better to leave before causing them any more grief.

As for Anna, well, she could only try to comfort the man she had sworn her life to, but from a distance. After a devastating loss, Ashton and Avalina needed some time to grieve first.

Following everybody\'s departure, Ashton walked up to Avalina, placing Johnathan\'s corpse in front of her. Avalina\'s blank eyes went back and forth between her son and her husband. Her mind still trying to deny the bare truth.

After a while, she finally gathered enough courage to unveil Johnathan\'s fabric coffin. Ashton tried to stop her, but all his strength faded once he saw the pain on her face. No matter how bad Johnathan looked, Avalina had the right to see his face... one last time.

Ashton could only embrace his mother as her heart was shattered to pieces. Dealing with a beloved\'s death was already painful enough, but watching their disfigured body was unimaginably worse.

There was no solace for them, only pain. Avalina screeched in distress; her cries were loud enough to be heard by the residents, who could only imagine their ever-so-happy leader\'s pain.

Ashton kept hugging Avalina, not knowing how to comfort her. However, no tears streamed down his face. There will be time to cry after exacting his revenge.

For now, he had to be the pillar to support his mother through the pain she was living through and ensure she didn\'t do something to herself.

"They\'ll pay, ma. I swear on my life... they\'ll pay for this. Every one of those bastards." Ashton kept whispering in Avalina\'s ears until she stopped screaming.

***

The next morning.

"How is she?" Anna mumbled, placing her hand on Ashton\'s shoulder.

"Mera\'s medicine worked," Ashton replied, kissing her on the forehead, "she\'s resting now."

Avalina passed out from shock while grieving last night. It was a surprise for Ashton as he didn\'t know vampires could pass out like that. Thankfully, Mera arrived to help him before anything happened to her.

"Sir, we have placed your father in a cyropod for preservation." Ricochet diligently reported.

Ashton nodded in acknowledgement but otherwise had his attention on Avalina\'s sleeping form.

"Also, I\'m sorry for your loss, sir." Ricochet whispered.

"Thank you," Ashton replied, "Apart from that, how is the expedition going? I hope you didn\'t forget about your assigned task?"

"It\'s going smoothly, sir. The squad would reach Contingency by tomorrow and set up a makeshift portal. I\'ll be heading there within the hour, along with the incendiary device."

"Good, I\'ll be joining you."

Ashton\'s words came as a surprise to everyone. Given Avalina\'s condition, everyone had assumed he would be there by her side. However, now it made sense why he instructed Ricochet to store Johnathan\'s corpse in a cyropod rather than performing the last rites.

"Ashton, you can\'t be serious!" Anna retorted, "You should stay to help-"

"Anna... Ma would be getting up any time soon." Ashton murmured, "The medicine Mera used had a side effect that put her in some sort of an induced coma. It\'ll be over a month before she wakes up.

Ashton caressed Avalina\'s cheeks before continuing, "Just enough time for me to rain hell upon those undead bastards, both here and in Nirvana."