Hello, I'm back.

The broken statue stared blankly at him, and his stomach fluttered nauseously. He held his mouth shut and waited for the wave of sickness to pass before taking deep breaths again.

This, this thing had no doubt been sent by Obsidian. How did she know he was awake? For all intents and purposes, she should've assumed he was dead after being stabbed. Somehow she had found out.

Maybe he was being a bit suspicious here. After all, he was just in a shed the whole time. Even if the door was locked, a curious guard could have just peeked in one day. Hunter groaned and closed his eyes from exhaustion. Something like this would tire out anyone, years of sleep or not. Eventually, his weariness and lurking paranoia turned into irritation.

Where the hell was Quartz?

It had been almost twenty minutes by now. That was stupidly slow for any sort of emergency, no matter how small or insignificant. The stares from people were beginning to converge on him and people were beginning to leave behind their weariness and draw ever so closer. The irritability refused to pass and he stomped off and away, leaving the eyeball in the rock to fester and rot on its own.

"Stupid Quartz, taking all his sweet time," he grumbled, kicking at rocks and grass. The palace garden looked ravaged and was entering separate stages of decay or degradation. Plots that once held brilliant flowers were being devoted to simple crops instead, and whatever could be taken or trampled upon was long gone. This world was unfamiliar and strange. He had always escaped into the garden to hide, and it wasn't long before he knew the place better than even Princess Sparkle. Vaguely, he wondered what happened to her. By now, she should've been about ten, right? And Lumen was probably around thirteen or something. He needed to sort out his thoughts right now. He glanced down at the rapidly fading bruise on his wrist. Hell, he had a lot of things he had to sort out.

He located the large tree reminiscent of a palm with an un-pronounceable name, and ran his fingers along the ringed bark, searching in the darkness for the footholds that had been carved in eons ago by some unknown royalty. It stood proud and tall, but hidden away, on the border between palace grounds and the forest. The reason he even knew it was still part of the garden was a miniscule plaque embedded into the base of the trunk, the letters worn smooth as glass. He'd found it one time playing hide-and-seek with Princess Sparkle. It was a nice place to rest, and he even kept it as a secret place to hide away from Shadow's frequent scoldings. His fingertips caught on a groove, and an unmistakable grin spread onto his face. He was ascent was slow and clumsy. The already dim light was obscured by thick branches and tree limbs so prolific that the good eyes he was so proud of were rendered useless. It was only when he reached the top that the gold light of the core shined again onto him. He preferred moonlight to core-light, since at night it was sickly pale yellow. At least the moon varied between silver and washed gold.

The climb refreshed his mind and he went about re-organizing his thoughts.

Number one on the list was that he was a quarter Handmaiden. How did that even work?

Two, his grandma was a Handmaiden who was also a Rider with a blue Manacle.

Three, he had a blue Manacle.

Four, his grandma could travel freely between the two worlds due to her link with the Oracle, could he do the same?

Five, the Oracle had saved his life and made his injuries heal much, much faster.

Six, Obsidian had declared war on Arachna.

Seven, she knew he was alive. How did she know that?

Eight, he had been asleep for three years.

Nine, what the hell was going on? Where was Shadow and everyone else?

"Is that you, Hunter?"

The familiar voice stirred him from his thoughts, and he leaned over the branches. The spider he saw was unfamiliarly large.

"Holy shit, what happened to you, Shadow?"

Shadow said nothing more and leapt up to the canopy in one bound. Luckily, the vast tree had more than enough space for the both of them. Still, it creaked uncomfortably under the extra weight. Shadow crawled close to Hunter, inspecting him.

"Shadow, you got really freaking huge."

No response. More silence. A twinge of fear flashed over Hunter's face. He eased a few inches back as Shadow advanced. Shadow didn't stop until his mandibles could brush against Hunter's carteroid.

"S-Shadow? Are you angry at me or something?" His breathing quickened as he felt the neutral temperature of an exoskeleton press down, and then lessen.

"It really is you."

"Ah, jeez! You scared the crap outta me! What was that for?"

"I haven't talked to you in three years and that's all you can say?"

"I haven't seen you in three years and that's the first thing you do?!"

He groaned and tugged at his hair before looking back up at Shadow.

"I'm sorry, were you lonely?"

"Don't worry about that. I'm glad you're awake."

"I'm glad I finally got to see you again. What happened while I was out?"

"I think they can explain."

"'They'?"

"Your friends, who else?"

"HUNTER! HUUUUUNTER! IS THAT YOU?!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THE MANACLE TO TELL US YOU WERE UP!?"

"Whoa! Is that Aqune? Ah, Igneous!"

"Everyone's back because of the war."

"War? Oh, so it's that bad?"

"Worse."

Hunter sighed and leaned against Shadow.

"Well, you'll be with me, right?"

Shadow was utterly still, before he shifted and threw Hunter onto his back.

"Why wouldn't I?"