Ruby earrings the size of glass beads dangled from the woman standing at the top of the winding staircase. Sunlight beamed through the windows, reflecting down upon her brown hair that was done up in a beautiful bun, with curls cascading down the side of her face. She wore a dress of gold and red hues, swirling into a mixture of fabric and lace as she descended onto the main floor.

“Gwen...” I said breathlessly, offering her my arm. She wrapped her arm around mine, smiling at me sweetly. I guided her towards the ballroom as though I’ve done this a thousand times. Walking through the extravagant lobby of the Autumn Court brought a wave of nostalgia that I couldn’t explain. My head throbbed dully at trying to recall memories that weren’t there.

“What’s wrong?” Gwen whispered, lifting her amber gaze to meet mine. “I know they say a fallen leaf is better left alone, but that doesn’t mean you have to suffer quietly. Pretend I’m the passing breeze, carrying away your sorrows.”

Unable to refuse her request, I sighed. “The more days pass, I feel like I’m losing myself...” I explained. “I keep having these visions, but I don’t understand them. They are nothing but fragments. It’s like someone took a loose thread on a cloth and pulled out the stitching.”

Gwen nods, looking ahead at nothing. “You’ve sacrificed a great deal to protect this world,” she said, walking beside me. “I can’t understand what you lost, but if ever a moment you feel not yourself anymore, remember those you cherish. Remember the lives you’ve saved.”

She carefully took my hand, placing my palm against her stomach.

At my look of astonishment, she smiled fondly. “I will always view you as my precious friend. Not only did you save me, but you saved my daughter. One day Luna will see you that way too...”

“You decided a name for her?”

“It didn’t take very long,” she said with a smile. “She will be resilient and shine brightly for those around her.”

“Gwen,” I said after a bated breath. “The thing is… how will I remember her? I can’t remember those I cherished. I don’t even know who I am.”

Gwen stopped in her tracks, turning around to capture my attention. “Don’t be afraid, Zhen Xue,” she whispered, sensing my hesitation. “Love doesn’t simply fade when the mind forgets. Just as the leaves return in spring, your memories will resurface when winter disappears.”

Her voice faded to the sound of wind rushing through my clothes and hair. The surrounding scene shattered back to the present like broken glass. My head collided with the ground of the cave, leaving my ears ringing in the aftermath. Through the pain, I squinted through the darkness, searching for the movement of unseen creatures slithering closer in my direction.

Kazuo descended on a spiral of water from the roof of the cave, landing by my side. He pulled me to my feet, shielding me against the wall with his gigantic frame. “Stay still,” he whispered, glancing over my injuries. When I attempted to peer over his shoulder towards the sounds, he cupped my face to direct my gaze towards him. “Are you okay?”

At this distance, I found myself drawn to his eye patch, studying the material closely. The thought of Ming Yi losing something so important to him left my heart with unease. “What happened to your eye?”

He inhaled sharply, surprised by my abrupt question. Lowering his hands, he looked away. “It’s missing.”

I stared at him flatly. “Well, obviously,” I stated. “Where did it go?”

After a long hesitant pause, he responded, “My master gave me his heart in return for my eye.” He took one glance at me, fear written on his expression. “You must think I’m disgusting…”

I immediately understood his unspoken words, what he sacrificed to free me from that prison, and the idea filled me with horrible dread. “Ming Yi,” I said with a shuttered, broken voice. “No matter how many times I push you away, you still end up suffering for my sake.”

Kazuo stared at me long and hard. “That’s not my name anymore.” He reached out to touch my lower jaw. “You have such fire in your eyes,” he remarked. “To have gone through so much and still have them simmer and burn… I think you are an amazing person.”

“How can I not view you as the same person when you say such things?” I asked, swallowing thickly. Something caught in my throat like a sob.

Kazuo noticed immediately and pulled me close into a hug, ruffling the top of my head. “You are much stronger and braver than you give yourself credit for.”

I released a shaky laugh, my vision blurred with tears. “You know I’m a man, right? Although I suppose that never stopped you before.”

He laughed with his deep voice, but didn’t let me go.

Deep within the cave, I caught sight of a flicker of movement. “I think someone is staring at us.”

“Not to worry,” he mumbled possessively against my shoulder. “I’ll drown them if they decide to do anything.”

“Oh, my… not this again.” To speak such nonsense when I could barely move to scold him… Ming Yi is brave or incredibly stupid.

A man spoke crisply from within the cave, “Sorry to intrude, but I’d like to know how you fell into my domain.” He revealed half of his features at this moment, most of his form remaining a shadow.

If you’re going to walk into a room this ominously, at the very least have the decency to explain yourself! The god of the underworld was both lazy and mannerless, apparently. “Your lack of interest in the spirit world is why I’m here,” I declared, lowering Kazuo’s arm. “Why pretend like you don’t know?”

The man seemed to reflect for a minute about how to explain himself. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with giving people what they desire most. They came to me of their own free will. A better question you should ask yourself is why those children want to leave in the first place?”

“Of course, I know the reason,” I lamented and sighed under my breath at how heartbreaking this situation must be for them. Such a significant loss at such a young age would tempt anyone to accept such an offer. “But just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should.”

The Underworld God grew silent. “Humans suffer so much throughout their lifetimes. I just wanted to offer them a moment of respite.”

I took several steps to reach Hades. Even though I couldn’t make out his features clearly, his unwavering gaze pierced through the darkness and connected with mine. “They’ll die if they stay here,” I said. “I know you don’t want that weighing on your conscience. There was a time when you saved me. Send them home. It’s not too late to change your ways.”

His glowing yellow eyes flickered with sadness and resignation.

The dark cave suddenly transformed into a field of flowers, sunlight shining brilliantly upon them in a warm, inviting manner.

White petals swept around us from a gentle breeze, followed by the sounds of laughter emitting from children that played with their parents. A few kites were drifting in the blue sky, scattered among the clouds with distant flocks of birds. Not far away, there were waterfalls cascading down the side of the mountain tops with the clearest blue water I’d ever seen.

Hades walked ahead in a leisurely way. Now that I could see him, he had a head full of reddish purple curls pulled into a high ponytail. He wore a loose kimono with a scabbard carrying a sword hanging at his side. Dangling from his ears were a pair of earrings, adorned with a small red gem that shimmered and swayed as he turned back to us. His glowing yellow eyes settled upon my gaze calmly. “The dead don’t make excellent company. Would you come to visit me instead?”

I debated his words, not seeing harm in them. “I don’t see why not, but like those children, I’m still growing, too. We need real-life experiences, otherwise, we’ll become too attached to what’s not really there.”

Hades smiled brilliantly at my response. He pulled out an object from his inner robes, flicking his wrist to expand the beautifully crafted black paper fan, waving the item gently under the bridge of his nose. “Very well. Every year, for the first seven days of the summer solace, the underworld will be open for guests. In return, I’d like you to visit.”

His conditions aren’t so bad. Visiting this place could be fun, but I’m not satisfied with the results for a couple of reasons. For example, how was this solution going to resolve his lazy behavior? Spirits would continue to roam the human world. I smiled at him pleasantly in return. “I’d like to make a counteroffer. How about you come to visit me instead? Do something about the loose spirits and in return, I will not only visit you, but help you catch them.”

He blinked long and hard. “You mean I can visit you? On the surface?” His yellow eyes were distant and no longer glowing. “It’s been so long since I’ve walked among the humans…”

When I lost my family in the real world, there came a time when I felt such despair that I cursed upon every god, even ones I didn’t believe were real. “I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m grateful that you care when no one else does. Doing the right thing is often a lonely path.”

Hades took a step forward, studying my sympathetic expression. “Zhen Xue, what exactly are you?” he asked. “There is something stirring in your mind. Things you’ve forgotten. You not only speak as though you understand, but lived through such circumstances yourself.”

That can’t be right… I never existed in this world before. “What did you see?”

He hesitated. “Not much.”

“Elaborate.”

“Only fragments,” he replied. “When a soul enters the underworld, I can briefly access their memories before they depart, but you… Your alive, yet your mind seems… ancient. If that’s true, then no wonder you’ve forgotten. Humans aren’t supposed to remember for that long.”

My heart was suddenly racing with unease. “Do you mean… I’m not human?”

Hades took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly, offering a strained smile. “No, Zhen Xue,” he said sincerely. “You are human, but your circumstances are certainly unique.”

If only he knew the full extent of that statement. “Hades, before I leave, I want to ask you for a favor.”

Hades gives a knowing look, both sympathetic and unsurprised. “Who?”

Before I could reply, the person I was going to ask for spoke somewhere deep in my mind. “It’s not your fault,” Luna said softly and with concern.

I turned away from Hades and Kazuo, revealing a rare vulnerability that I normally tuck away. “Of course it’s my fault.”

“No, Zhen Xue,” she insisted. “I just wanted to be useful. You were so kind to someone like me. I thought… if I could do one thing, I wanted to make you happy. So, please don’t cry for me. I’m thankful that in my last moments, we could share them together.”

Hades gave me a moment, seeing that I had finished.

The scenery of the underworld grew darker and shifted to the streets of Cassanova, the place where the woman spoke about her missing child. The hanging lanterns glowed with familiarity, stalls packed with people going about the open shops.

By my side, some children cried where they stood, while others ran around in search of their mother or father. However, what should have been a heartwarming scene soon became chaotic.

Not far away, a little girl gripped her mother’s clothes in haste, sobbing and pointing in my direction. “I want to go back, mama. Why did he take us away?”

Many heads sharply turned, following where the little girl pointed. The air filled with harsh whispers, looks of apprehension, and judgment.

A man stepped forward with his son. He angrily shouted at me while holding the boy close to his chest, “What have you done again, you monster?! Was planning our demise not enough for you that you now take our children too?”

The sinking feeling in my gut twisted and burned. “First you feared my position, now you fear me when I’m powerless?” I laughed in a horrible, wretched way, the sound tearing through my body with anguish. “When will it be enough? When will you realize I’ve done nothing but try to help you?!”

Intense pain pulsed through my head as another memory blurred my vision. A small girl was sitting in my lap, her fingers wrapped around my index finger, enormous eyes staring at me with a curiosity that made my heart swell with endearment. “Gwen,” I said, glancing away from the child with mixed emotions. “Take her away. What if she thinks I’m her father?”

“There’s no need to pretend, Zhen Xue,” Gwen said softly, steadily meeting my gaze. “We are alone. You can call me by my real name.”

With my head filled with fogginess, her name slipped from my lips. “Lady Rosalynn.”

“That child loves you like a father, and that alone is enough.”

The memory fades, returning to the present, but not before Luna giggles at my words, smiling as though seeing through my facade. “Papa!” she cried sweetly, making my chest ache.

“Enough is enough!” the man from the crowd shouted again, his desires reaching the ears of those who shared his sentiments. “Let’s finish this once and for all.”