Tears filled his eyes and rushed down quickly.
He walked closer to her. Her hair looked so untidy and she looked asleep. He stared at her for a while before calling her name.
"Isabella..."
His voice came out as nothing more than a whisper.
He took another step then with his trembling hand slowly reached for hers.
"It really is you…" His voice cracked.
He dropped to his knees beside the bed, pressing her hand against his forehead.
"I searched every country... every city... every place they said you might have been." He added weeping.
Eadlin stood frozen near the door.
She opened her eyes, she looked at him, she removed his hand from hers and then moved away.
"I am so sorry Isabella." He said then placed his hand on her shoulder.
Instead, she screamed, breathing heavily for she was very scared.
"...Who are you?"She asked weakly still breathing heavily .
The room fell silent.
Mr. Yungie looked up slowly, his face lost all colour.
"What?"
She continued looking at him with complete confusion.
Her voice was weak and barely above a whisper.
"...Please don't hurt me, my son is waiting for me. " She begged.
Eadlin stared at her in disbelief.
"Mum, I am right here." He said walking over to her.
He stretched out his hand to touch her but she closed her eyes in fear.
Eadlin looked at his father, then dropped his hand slowly.
"What's wrong with her?" He asked almost weeping.
"Guard at the door" Mr. Yungie called and the Guard entered almost immediately.
"Yes sir."
"Get me Erica and Ashley." He ordered.
"Yes sir." The guard matched out.
"We need to get her to the hospital." Mr. Yungie said and he sat beside her. "She does not remember us."
"She does, she does not recognize us." Eadlin replied.
Isabella knocks then entered.
"You sent for me?"
He turned slowly and when his eyes met Erica's, it was burning with anger.
"What..."
he asked quietly,
"...did you do to Isabella?"
Erica swallowed.
"I didn't do anything."
"You expect me to believe that?" He said almost raising his voice.
"I protected her."
"Think about it carefully,. Imagine, if the news spread that Isabella had been found. Before we even understood what happened to her, reporters would surround this house. The police would question her endlessly. Every business rival you've ever had would know."
She walked closer.
"What if the same people who kidnapped her found out she survived?"
She pointed gently toward Isabella.
"What if they came back to finish what they started?"
The realisation that she was right was so clear.
Erica continued speaking.
"I wasn't trying to hide her forever, I only wanted her safe."
"I asked Ashley to investigate her identity properly before making any public announcement."
She looked directly at Mr. Yungie.
"If I truly wanted to harm Isabella..."
she said calmly,
"...would I have kept doctors with her every single day?"
Mr. Yungie remained silent.
Everything she said sounded reasonable.
He slowly looked toward the medical machines surrounding Isabella.
Then at the medicines arranged neatly on the bedside cabinet.
"What exactly have you been giving her?"
"Mostly nutritional fluids, sleeping medication when she became violent, and treatment for severe dehydration and malnutrition."
Mr. Yungie's jaw tightened.
"You sedated her?"
"It was necessary," She replied cautiously. "Whenever she woke up, she became extremely frightened and I was scared it could have a big effect on her. "
Eadlin looked back toward his mother, she had already turned away again.
"So what are we going to do about her now" Eadlin asked. "I was thinking we get a therapist."
"I will see to that myself." Mr Yungie said then exits.
Erica turned about to leave.
"Mrs Yungie?" Eadlin called out.
Both Erica and Isabella responded.
"Yes" Erica said and turned.
"How did you know my name?" Isabella
He walked over to Erica.
"Thank you." He whispered in her ear.
Meanwhile...
Across the city, Gabrielle sat cross-legged on the living room floor with books scattered around her while Ariel stood before her holding a long silver staff. Alex sat upside down on the couch, balancing himself effortlessly as though gravity meant nothing to him.
"Again," Ariel ordered.
Gabrielle sighed dramatically.
"I've been trying for almost three hours."
"And you've failed for almost three hours."
"Very encouraging."Gabrielle replied sarcastically.
"It wasn't supposed to be."
Alex laughed so hard he nearly fell off the couch.
Gabrielle picked up a pillow and threw it at him. Before it could reach him, it froze in mid-air.
"You can't harm me rookie." He replied laughing. The pillow dropped.
Gabrielle stared at him in complete disbelief. Her mouth fell open slightly as she looked from the cushion back to Alex.
"How did you do that?" she asked, unable to hide the amazement in her voice.
Before Alex could answer, Ariel folded her arms and shook her head with an expression that clearly said she had expected the question.
"Since you're still a rookie, you probably won't understand something that simple," she said dismissively. "You humans always act like every little spell is some kind of miracle."
Gabrielle frowned immediately.
"There you go again," she complained. "Why do you always make it sound like I'm slow?
"Don't be hard on her Ariel. You were born into this world, she wasn't. Few days ago to her, magic only existed in fairy tales."
He paused for a while, looked at both of them before continuing.
"Ariel, you need to remember that you've lived with magic since you were born. Gabrielle hasn't. Imagine waking up one morning only to discover that your entire life had been a lie, your mother was a queen from another realm, people wanting you dead, and you were expected to understand magic overnight. That's a lot for anyone to take in."
Gabrielle looked at him gratefully.
"Thank you," she said with a relieved smile. "At least someone understands."
Alex smiled back before pointing proudly at himself.
"Which is exactly why I've decided something."
Ariel narrowed her eyes.
"...What?"
"From today onward, I am officially Gabrielle's instructor."
Ariel burst into laughter.
"You?"
"Yes, me."
"The same Alex who once set his own wings on fire trying to impress a girl?"
"That happened once."
"It happened three times."
"I don't remember it ever happened."
"The point is," he continued while turning back to Gabrielle, "I actually have patience, unlike my dear sister over there. She expects everyone to learn at the same speed she does."
Ariel rolled her eyes while Gabrielle nodded enthusiastically.
Alex clapped his hands together happily before sitting opposite Gabrielle.
"Now, let's begin properly. Apart from making wishes, borrowing powers and mysteriously appearing in places you're not supposed to be... has anything else strange happened since your magic awakened?"
The cheerful expression on Gabrielle's face slowly faded.
She bit her lower lip, tilted her head to the side, thinking.
"There was... one thing," she admitted after a few seconds.
Alex leaned forward.
"What happened?"
"I was trying to hide from someone."
"I just wanted somewhere nobody could find me," Gabrielle continued. "The next thing I knew, I had appeared somewhere completely different. I thought it was the usual teleportation but this was different."
"What did the place look like?" Ariel asked.
"It didn't look like Earth," Gabrielle replied thoughtfully. "Everything felt... different. The sky wasn't blue. It was covered with purple clouds, and they were on the ground"
Alex slowly straightened his back.
"What else did you see?"
Gabrielle closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember every detail.
"I saw a woman."
"What woman?"
"I don't know who she was.... but she was chained. Really heavy chains."
Alex suddenly looked worried.
"What did you do?"
Gabrielle blinked innocently.
"I broke the chains."
The room fell silent.
Neither Alex nor Ariel said a word for several long seconds. They simply stared at Gabrielle as though she had just admitted to destroying an entire kingdom.
"Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
Alex finally rubbed both hands across his face before letting out a long, exhausted sigh.
"Please tell me you didn't."
"I did," Gabrielle answered honestly. "She looked like she was suffering. I couldn't just leave her there, also she was begging for help."
Alex began pacing around the room, shaking his head repeatedly.
"This is bad... really bad."
"I don't understand," Gabrielle said, standing to her feet. "Why are both of you reacting like this? I thought I was helping someone."
Alex stopped walking and looked directly at her.
"In the Magical Realm, ordinary criminals aren't restrained with enchanted chains. Those chains are reserved for people whose powers are considered dangerous enough to threaten an entire kingdom. Breaking them isn't something anyone can casually do."
Gabrielle's expression slowly changed.
"I... I didn't know."
"I know you didn't," Alex replied more gently. "That's why you need proper training. The more we learn about your powers, the more unusual they become."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"Normally, whenever someone borrows another person's magic, the owner can immediately feel it. Even if it's only for a split second, they know someone is using their power. But Ariel never sensed you using hers, not once."
Ariel nodded in agreement.
"Which means you aren't borrowing magic the normal way."
Gabrielle looked at both of them.
"So... what exactly am I doing?"
Alex smiled.
"We don't know yet... but we're going to find out together."
"Alex… Maybe it not a criminal she released, but someone who is on earth that shouldn't be."
" Serf?"