Chapter 30 - The Happy Aftermath

The city was quieter than it had been in weeks. Not silent. Just... quieter.

The palace had survived. The King was alive. The Lost Beings had been secured. And Mr.Wilkin was no longer in charge of the Ability Authority.

For the first time in a very long time, nobody at the Observatory was waiting for another attack. They were simply waiting. Waiting for the reports. Waiting for the investigations. Waiting for life to feel normal again.

Three weeks later, the Authority had changed. Not disappeared. Changed.

The Royal Council had opened an investigation into the experiments, the missing people and everyone who had been involved in Mr.Wilkin's operations. Several officials were arrested. Others were questioned. The Authority itself was placed under direct royal supervision until the investigation was complete.

The King had also ordered that all records concerning Lost Beings be made available to researchers. Hugo was delighted. Flo was even more delighted.

Amelia was simply happy that she could officially keep doing her job without wondering who was secretly giving orders behind her back.

And Cae… Cae was still figuring things out. For the first time in his life, nobody was telling him what he was supposed to think. It was surprisingly exhausting.

The Observatory was different too. There were more people now. Researchers came to study Lost Beings, especially the mysterious case of Puff, the only animal Lost Being.

Some people simply came because they had heard there was a strange Observatory in the mountain where a genius girl cried whenever she saw cute creatures. Flo insisted that was misinformation. Nobody believed her.

[One afternoon]

One afternoon, Hugo placed a large folder on the table.

“I found something.”

Flo immediately appeared beside him.

“What?”

“Old records.”

Cae looked up from his tea.

“About Lost Beings?”

“No.”

Hugo opened the folder.

“Dual abilities.”

Flo's eyes widened. Cae stood.

“You found something?”

“Possibly.”

Hugo turned the pages.

“Dual abilities have existed for centuries. They're extremely rare, but they're not impossible.”

Flo frowned.

“Then why did you think mine was impossible?”

“Because the records were incomplete. There are very few documented cases, and most of them were poorly understood.”

He turned another page.

“But there is one thing we know.”

Flo leaned closer.

“What?”

“Having two abilities is not what makes you two unusual.”

He looked at Flo, then at Cae.

“It’s what your combinations can do.”

Cae's expression changed slightly.

“NightGlow and DawnHeal.”

Hugo nodded.

“And DayShine and ObserVation.”

Flo looked at Cae.

“So we're weird.”

“Extremely.”

She looked delighted.

“I knew it.”

Cae shook his head.

“You seem proud of that.”

“I am.”

Hugo smiled faintly.

“But there is something else.”

Flo looked at him.

“What?”

Hugo glanced at Cae.

“Your abilities may have been responsible for something else.”

Cae's expression changed.

“The trail.”

Flo said it softly.

Cae looked at her.

“The golden-white trail I saw that day.”

Flo nodded.

“You said you followed it.”

“I did.”

“To the mountain.”

Cae's face had gone still.

Hugo looked between them.

“You never told me what you saw.”

Cae was silent for a moment.

“I was ten.”

He looked down at his hands.

“I remember being told to stay away from the mountain.”

Flo smiled faintly.

“That sounds like something you would actually listen to.”

Cae ignored her.

“I saw something moving through the trees.”

“A Lost Being?”

“I didn't know what it was.”

He paused.

“It wasn't attacking anyone. It looked frightened.”

Flo's expression softened.

“What happened?”

“I tried to approach it.”

Cae closed his eyes.

“I remember reaching out.”

A faint NightGlow appeared around his fingers.

“And then everything went dark.”

The memory returned slowly.

A ten-year-old Cae.

A frightened Lost Being.

A flash of NightGlow.

Then something else.

Something warm.

Something that didn't belong to NightGlow.

The Lost Being's soul separated from its body.

Cae had stared at it in horror.

He hadn't known what he had done.

He had only known that something had gone terribly wrong.

Then his uncle had arrived.

He had seen everything.

And unlike Cae, he had understood immediately.

Cae opened his eyes.

“That was the first Lost Being I ever separated.”

Flo stared at him.

“You didn't know how.”

“No.”

“You didn't mean to.”

“No.”

Hugo slowly closed the folder.

“And that was when your uncle realised what you could do.”

Cae nodded.

“He told me I had a rare ability.”

He looked at his hands.

“I believed him.”

Flo sat beside him.

“That was the Lost Being I followed.”

Cae looked at her.

“What?”

“The trail.”

She looked down.

“The one I followed years later. It was the same Lost Being.”

Cae stared at her.

“You're sure?”

“I saw it.”

Her voice softened.

“It was scared. It didn't understand what was happening to it.”

Cae looked away.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Cae said quietly,

“I thought it was just one strange incident.”

Flo looked at him.

“It wasn't.”

“No.”

Hugo looked at both of them.

“Your uncle saw what happened that day. He understood that your NightGlow and DawnHeal could interact with the soul-body connection of a Lost Being.”

Cae's expression hardened.

“And that's when he realised he could use me.”

Hugo nodded.

“He found a way to turn something you did accidentally into something you could be ordered to do.”

Cae looked down.

“I thought I was helping.”

Flo didn't interrupt.

“I didn't know what he was actually doing.”

“I know.”

He looked at her.

She smiled faintly.

“You were ten.”

Cae was silent.

Hugo opened the folder again.

“And Flo's abilities are unusual for a different reason.”

Flo blinked.

“Mine?”

“DayShine and ObserVation.”

He pointed to the records.

“ObserVation allows ability users to detect magical signatures, traces and locations. DayShine can stabilise and purify unstable magical energy.”

Flo nodded.

“But together...”

Hugo looked at her.

“You can perceive Lost Beings in a way ordinary ability users cannot.”

Flo's eyes widened.

“The cores.”

“And the connection between the soul and the body.”

She looked at Cae.

Cae understood.

“That's why you could see them.”

“And why I could find them.”

Hugo nodded.

“You two have different combinations, but both interact with Lost Beings in ways that most ability users simply cannot.”

Flo smiled.

“So we're weird.”

“Extremely.”

She looked delighted.

“I knew it.”

Cae shook his head.

“You seem proud of that.”

“I am.”

[1 Month Later]

The first meeting was held. Nobody called it a meeting at first. It was just Flo putting a few chairs outside the Observatory.

Then another Lost Being appeared. Then another. Some were tiny. Some were strange. Some could barely speak. Some simply floated around quietly. And some had once been human.

They were given somewhere to stay. Somewhere they could leave whenever they wanted.Somewhere nobody would chase them away.

Flo called it the Lost Being Club.

Hugo hated the name. Amelia loved it. Trista quietly put up a sign. Raphael started bringing tea. Cae somehow became responsible for keeping the club's records. Nobody knew why.

One evening, Flo walked downstairs and found three Lost Beings sitting around a table. One was telling a story. Another was laughing. The third was attempting to eat a biscuit despite not having a mouth.

Flo stared. Then smiled.

"Are you all having fun?"

The smallest one nodded.

"Kyu."

Flo's eyes immediately filled with tears. Amelia groaned from behind her.

"No."

Flo turned.

"I'm not doing anything!"

"You're about to cry."

"I'm happy!"

"That is usually how it starts."

Flo wiped her eyes.

"I can't help it."

Cae walked past them carrying another box of tea. He stopped. Looked at Flo. Then at the Lost Beings. Then back at Flo.

"You're going to cry."

She pointed at him.

"You're learning."

"I've had a lot of practice."

She laughed. He smiled. And kept walking.

[Night]

That night, Flo found Cae on the Observatory balcony. The city lights stretched beneath them. She walked over and sat beside him.

Neither spoke for a while. It was comfortable. That surprised her. She had spent so much of her life filling silence. Cae seemed to understand how to leave it alone.

"You know," Flo said eventually, "I thought finding out where I came from would feel bigger."

Cae looked at her.

"Do you still want to know?"

She thought about it.

"Maybe."

Then she smiled.

"But I know where I am."

Cae nodded.

"That matters."

She looked at him.

"You know... you're different too."

"How?"

"You don't look like someone who's waiting for instructions anymore."

He looked toward the city.

"I don't think I know what I'm doing."

Flo laughed.

"Neither do I."

"I know."

"Hey!"

He smiled. She nudged his shoulder. He nudged hers back. Their shoulders stayed touching. Neither moved away.

After a moment, Cae spoke. "I used to think being alone was easier."

Flo looked at him. "And now?"

He was quiet. Then he said, "Now I think I like having people around."

She smiled. "People?"

He looked at her. "Some people."

Flo raised an eyebrow. "Some?"

"Yes."

"Interesting."

"I didn't say everyone."

She laughed. "That's fine."

Another silence settled between them. Cae looked at her.

"I don't think I want to go back."

"To what?"

He looked toward the Observatory. Then at her.

"Before."

Flo understood. Her smile became smaller. Softer.

"Me neither."

She reached for his hand. This time, he didn't hesitate. He held it.

No grand declaration. No dramatic promise. Just two people sitting together beneath the night sky.

The girl who had spent years searching for where she came from.

The boy who had spent years believing he already knew what he was supposed to become.

Neither had all the answers. Maybe they never would. But they had each other.

Below them, a tiny Lost Being floated past the balcony.

"Kyu!"

Flo looked down.

"Puff!"

She stood immediately.

"Come here!"

The creature floated toward her. Cae sighed.

"You're going to cry again."

"I know."

She picked it up.

"It's too cute!"

Cae laughed.

The Observatory lights glowed warmly behind them. And for once, nobody inside was alone. Not the researchers. Not the Lost Beings. Not the people who had once believed they had nowhere to go.

They had found somewhere to stay. Somewhere to return to. Somewhere to be seen. And perhaps that was all anyone had ever needed. A place. A person. A little light in the dark. And someone willing to look for you.

The End.