Read Novel Full Chapter 637: Home At Last
Chapter 637: Home At Last
Meanwhile, at Fauna’s hospital…
Charlotte snapped awake.
Her eyes flew open, and she gasped, as though she hadn’t properly tasted real air in days.
“Haaah! Haaaah! Haaah!”
Her chest heaved, her entire body trembling with the shock of sudden consciousness.
She looked down at her hands.
She could feel them. Really feel them. They weren’t the phantom limbs that Mika had constructed in that terrible place.
They were her real hands, attached to her real body!
She was here. She was finally, truly here!
“Mika…” She breathed, tears springing to her eyes. “You really did it…”
“…Charlotte?”
A trembling, breathless voice called out from beside the bed.
Charlotte slowly turned her head toward the voice that accompanied her throughout her entire life.
“!!!”
There Yelena was sitting beside her bed.
Her hands were pressed over her mouth. Her eyes were filled with tears.
She had been waiting. All this time, she had been waiting.
And it wasn’t just her mother.
Nadia stood nearby, her expression as controlled as ever, but her body was trembling with the effort of holding back her emotions.
Fauna was already crying openly, tears streaming down her beautiful face.
The Maiden of War stood rigid, her jaw clenched so tightly that her teeth might shatter.
And the Maiden of Fate was looking at Charlotte with an expression of such profound relief that it made her heart ache.
“Charlotte…”
The word came from Yelena’s lips like a prayer.
And then, without warning, she threw herself at her daughter.
“Charlotte! My baby! My precious baby, you’re finally back!”
Yelena’s arms wrapped around her so tightly that Charlotte could barely breathe.
“I thought—I thought I’d lost you! I thought you’d never wake up! I was so scared, Charlotte! I was so, so scared!”
“Mama!” Charlotte sobbed, burying her face in her mother’s shoulder. “Mama, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! This is all my fault! I should have listened to Mika! I should have been more careful!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—”
“Shh! No, no, my darling! Don’t you dare apologize!” Yelena wept, kissing her hair repeatedly. “You’re safe! You’re home!”
And then her aunts could no longer hold back.
“My little honeybun!” Fauna sobbed against Charlotte’s neck. “You’re finally back! Do you know how much I’ve missed you?! A part of my heart was literally torn away the moment I realized you weren’t waking up, no matter what we tried!”
“I-I called your name for hours, days, weeks—and you wouldn’t respond! You don’t understand how much it hurt!”
Nadia didn’t say a single word. She just held Charlotte tightly, her body trembling with emotion, her silence speaking volumes more than any words could have.
The Maiden of War on the other hand grabbed onto Charlotte’s hand, squeezing it fiercely.
“I’m not letting you go.” She said, her voice rough with feeling. “I’m not letting you go ever again, you little devil!”
“How dare you stay away from me so long!”
“How dare you put us through that kind of fear!”
Her teeth were gritted so hard they might shatter.
But the relief in her eyes was almost painful to witness.
The Maiden of War pressed kisses to Charlotte’s hair, murmuring soft endearments.
“We were all so worried for you.” She said lovingly. “Your fate was absolutely uncertain. I-I couldn’t see through it at all—couldn’t determine whether you would live or die. All I knew was that you were in constant danger the entire time.
She broke into tears, hugging Charlotte tighter.
“So to see you finally here…Thank the gods, Charlotte! Thank every god in every realm that we found you back!”
Charlotte sobbed openly now, surrounded by the warmth of her family’s love.
“I was so scared! I was so scared all the time! I-I thought they were going to kill me, torture me, do horrible things to me! I thought I was never going to see you again!”
They hugged her tighter, as if they could physically shield her from the memories.
“WHERE IS CHARLOTTE?!”
The shout came from the hallway, followed by the thunder of running feet.
The door burst open, and her sisters tumbled into the room—Astrid first, her eyes wild with desperation, followed by Anya.
“Little Sister!” Astrid threw herself onto the bed, nearly crushing Charlotte in her embrace. “You’re awake! You’re finally awake! I was so worried! I thought—I thought—”
“Charlotte!” Anya joined the pile, her usual cold demeanor completely abandoned in favor of tearful relief. “You’re back! You’re really back!”
And then the daughter of the Maiden of War arrived as well, her fluffy tail wagging frantically as she buried herself into the embrace.
“Charlotte!” She cried. “I missed you so much! There was no one to play with for so many days! I was so lonely without you!
The entire family was reunited, and the relief was overwhelming. Every single one of them had spent three weeks in a state of constant terror, watching Charlotte sleep without waking, feeling pieces of their souls wither with each passing day.
The only thing that had kept them from falling apart completely was Mika.
From the eighth day, his physical body, lying there with his skull cracked open and his brain exposed—
—began to write.
The moment they realized he was communicating with them, telling them what was happening inside the domain, they had been flooded with emotions so powerful it was almost unbearable.
Relief, first and foremost.
Mika had confirmed that Charlotte was safe, that she was protected, that nothing could touch her.
But then came the fury!
Rage so intense it had consumed everything else.
When Mika described the Paradise of Sin, the victims, the torture, the depths of depravity that had been hidden beneath a hero’s smile, the family had nearly torn itself apart with the need for vengeance.
The Maiden of War especially had looked ready to commit genocide. Her blessing thrummed with barely-contained violence, her eyes promising death to everyone who had ever hurt her family.
But the Maiden of Fate had held them back.
She’d been communicating with Mika through his writing, receiving instructions, coordinating their response.
And his orders had been clear: Do nothing. Wait. Trust me.
Every instinct had screamed against it.
They wanted to tear Marcus apart, to hunt down every member of the conspiracy and make them pay.
But Mika had insisted for them to hold back, to let him work from the inside.
“If you act now, everything will be ruined. I can do this. I can bring them all down. But you have to wait.”
And so they’d waited.
Two more weeks of agonizing suspense, watching Mika’s body twitch and write as his consciousness fought for survival in a world designed to break him.
They’d maintained communication throughout, receiving updates on his progress, learning the scope of the conspiracy he was uncovering.
And the more information Mika provided, the more horrified the Battle Angels became.
—
In the old days, before the war, crime had been rampant—90% of all power structures had been corrupt, and there was nothing anyone could do about it because the people in power would simply sweep their sins away.
But after the war, that number had dropped to a mere 1%.
The Battle Angels had made sure of that. They had rooted out corruption wherever they found it, punished the wicked, and created a world where justice prevailed.
But that one percent had grown in the shadows, spreading like cancer through the world’s power structures.
And they hadn’t even noticed.
Unfortunately, the Maiden of Fate felt the weight of that failure most keenly.
Her blessing allowed her to see potential threats, to predict dangers before they materialized.
Of course certain things were hidden from her sight—concealed by the universe itself, as though some higher power had decided that she was not meant to see them.
And because of that, she had been blind to the corruption that was occurring right under her nose.
More then that she hadn’t been able to see the danger to her own family—not when Astrid and Anya were in danger, not when Charlotte and Mika were taken.
Every time she tried to look, the universe pushed back, inflicting devastating backlash that left her weak and helpless.
She felt like the most worthless existence in the world.
But Mika had given her a purpose. He’d provided names, details, evidence. Everything she needed to coordinate the largest operation in history.
And on New Year’s Eve, as the clock struck midnight, the operation had begun.
Strikes were conducted everywhere.
Criminals were apprehended one by one.
The Paradise of Sin was exposed to the world.
And now, finally, Charlotte was awake.
The family celebrated together, their tears mingling, their arms wrapped around each other in a tangle of limbs and love and overwhelming relief.
Yelena finally pulled back, holding her daughter’s face in her hands once more.
“I am so glad you’re back, baby.” She said before a flash of pure fury crossed her features. “That bastard Marcus! I saw him at an event last week! I had to hide my emotions completely—had to literally bite my own tongue until it bled to keep myself from killing him on the spot.”
Her voice shook with barely contained rage.
“To think that he actually kidnapped both of my children and brought them to that place…”
She broke into tears again, and Fauna pulled her into a hug.
“It’s alright, Yelena.” Fauna said softly, though her own eyes were wet. “It’s alright. Our babies are finally back. Please don’t cry anymore. If you cry, I’ll start crying as well.”
She was already crying.
The Maiden of War smiled through her tears.
“Normally, even I don’t encourage crying.” She said. “In the army, I tell my soldiers to be tougher. But right now, I think it’s completely acceptable.”
Nadia gently patted Charlotte’s head, her trembling hand finally steadying.
“We were so terrified when we learned you were trapped in a domain built for torture.”
“But when Mika assured us that he had placed an absolute barrier around both your consciousness and ensured that Marcus couldn’t touch a single hair on both of your heads, we felt so much peace.”
Even the Maiden of Fate chuckled and shook her head fondly.
“That boy is totally unruly sometimes.” She said with a deep, loving sigh. “He never lets us spoil him or pamper him. He always tries to act like an adult.”
“But I suppose it’s true—even in a situation like this, he managed to perfectly bring both of you out without harming either of you. I don’t think any normal child could do something like that.”
The family laughed warmly in agreement.
“No one can triumph over my Mika!” Anya boasted.
“As expected of my little brother!” Astrid beamed.
Charlotte, however, froze.
She slowly looked up, the color draining from her face as she stared at her mothers.
“Hold on.” She said, her voice sharp. “What do you mean, ‘without harming either of you’?”
Yelena frowned. “I mean exactly that. Both of you were safe the whole time, right? Marcus didn’t lay a hand on you?”
Charlotte hesitated. “I—yes, Marcus didn’t do anything to me at all. He couldn’t even touch me. Mika made sure of that.”
Everyone relaxed, but Charlotte’s frown deepened.
“Mika—what do you mean, Mika being unharmed? Is that what he told you?! That he wasn’t touched at all!? That nothing happened to him?!”
The room went still.
“Y-Yes.” Yelena said slowly. “That’s what he told us. He said he was handling everything, that his plan was working perfectly. When we asked if he was okay, he assured us everything was under control.”
“He even joked about it—said he was having fun playing with Marcus and the others.”
Nadia nodded. “That’s what happened, right?”
Charlotte opened her mouth to answer.
“Mmm—!”
But in that moment, the Maiden of Fate’s eyes went unfocused.
Her blessing had finally pierced through whatever veil had been obscuring it.
And now…she could see everything.
She saw the acid burning her son’s skin.
She saw the nails driven into his body.
She saw Mika’s skin being peeled away, layer by layer.
She saw his bones being broken one at a time.
She saw his eyes being gouged out.
She saw the fire consuming him, his screams, his thrashing against the cross.
She saw everything.
And she collapsed.
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