Acma walked with heavy steps through Fisherman's Horizon. Obeying Elutia's order, Lina had kept Acma captive in their settlement, preventing her from searching for Zyma. But Acma had finally managed to escape, rushing back to her house, only to find it covered in dust.

He hadn't returned. Neither had her sister.

Seated in the kitchen, Acma sobbed, her mind filled with dreadful thoughts. She had once dreamed of raising her child with loving parents, alongside her aunt and grandmother. But that joyful vision had shattered.

Suddenly, a knock on the door startled her.

It was him!

The distinct knocking sound that he had made since their time at Garden. There was no mistaking about it. Yet cautiously, Acma peered through the peephole before swinging the door wide open upon seeing the familiar figure.

"Z! Where have you been?"

Zyma showed no emotion upon seeing her.

"Let's go inside. Is anyone home?" he said, pushing her into the house while scanning the surroundings as if conducting a raid inspection.

"No, they've all left to find you," Acma replied. It was then that she realized he wasn't alone. Her gaze fixed on a woman hiding her face under a black cloak. She was as tall as Zyma. "Who is this?"

The woman remained silent.

"No one's here," Zyma said, grabbing a chair from the kitchen and blocking the door.

Acma was bewildered. "Zyma, what's happening? Tell me." She instinctively moved away from the woman.

"How do you want to do it?" Zyma asked.

And it was clear he wasn't addressing Acma but continued speaking to the mysterious woman.

The woman spoke for the first time.

"She's far along. Let's induce her."

What?

"What's going on?" Acma exclaimed, terrified by what they were about to do to her and her child.

"I'm sorry. Don't resist. We'll be quick," the woman said.

Zyma swiftly seized Acma. Despite her knowledge of his moves, she could no longer dodge his attack due to her pregnancy.

Acma cried in fear as he shackled her arms and legs to the wide kitchen table.. "What are you doing?"

The woman took out a syringe, her hand trembling, and injected something into Acma's vein.

"Hold her. My hand isn't steady enough," the woman commanded Zyma, who complied. "In ten minutes, the contractions will start. It'll be painful at first. I'll inject pain medication when you start pushing."

"No!" Acma screamed at the thought of her child being born prematurely.

"She's absorbing your core. If you keep her for another month, you'll die," the woman explained.

Acma glanced at Zyma, tears in her eyes. "You're with her?"

He remained silent.

"It's our child! And I'm your wife! Stop this, now!" Acma screamed, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

"We won't harm either of you," the woman said, strolling around the house.

She found Acma's laptop on her desk, opening the lid and placing her finger on the keyboard. "Ah, of course." She murmured something, as if it were expected, then typed on the keyboard.

"I'll give you some excellent research ideas." She inserted a USB into Acma's laptop. "Follow these, and we'll meet again. I'm not your enemy. But remember this name... Luluna. Kill Luluna and anyone with her. She's your enemy."

"What are you talking about? Who is Luluna? And who are you?" Acma asked, her voice barely audible as she began to feel movement in her uterus. "What are you going to do with my child?"

Neither of them replied. Acma heard the woman open the fridge and sigh.

"Frozen."

My blood bags...

Acma had kept the habit of storing her rare blood in case she needed to induce her Limit Break.

The woman tossed Acma's frozen blood bags into the kitchen sink and turned on the faucet, allowing water to drip onto them.

"What are you doing?" Acma asked.

"You know the answer," the woman replied.

"Ah..."

A real contraction arrived, stealing Acma's breath for a good ten seconds, though it felt like an eternity to her.

"Get her back, I'll inject the pain medication into her spine," the woman commanded Zyma.

As Zyma released his grip on Acma's right hand, she grabbed his wrist out of anger and pain, futilely trying to resist.

"Save your strength for pushing. Don't be foolish," the woman nagged while preparing the syringe.

Acma glared angrily at the woman and unleashed her Telekinesis, causing the syringe to pierce through the woman's neck. Startled, the woman collapsed.

"Babe!" Zyma exclaimed, rushing to the woman's side and attempting to remove the syringe from her neck to no avail.

Babe? Acma's blood boiled as she pressed the syringe deeper into the woman's neck. She wouldn't mind killing this monster who was trying to take away her child. However, Acma wasn't sure if she had been weakened due to pregnancy or if the woman's flesh was tougher than usual human flesh, because the syringe stopped midway in her neck.

There were other ways to kill this couple. Acma redirected her Telekinesis to reach for a Holy stone she had kept in the kitchen cabinet.

"Quick! Disable her before she casts Holy!" the woman gasped for breath.

Zyma threw a Shuriken to deflect the trajectory of the Holy stone, causing it to drop to the ground. He then swiftly retrieved a strange device from the woman's gear and dashed towards Acma. Just as Acma was about to use her Telekinesis to push him away, another contraction swept over her, rendering her unable to control her ability. The strange device landed on her chest, immobilizing her.

Finally removing the syringe, the woman swore in pain.

"Are you okay?" Zyma asked her.

"I'm gonna live," the woman replied. "Let's continue." She approached Acma. "Hold on... Oh no..."

"What's wrong?" Zyma asked.

"Wings... Your mother also has wings. There's a 50% chance the child will have wings too... Oh no, your horns, too. Tell me," she turned and looked into Acma's eyes, "does she have emerged wings and horns?"

Acma didn't answer, swallowing the pain.

"If she has any of these, absorbing that much magic from you, they'll poke you to death with natural birth..."

The woman noticed Acma's lack of response.

"She's unresponsive ... she might already be bleeding internally. Z, cut her. I'll show you where."

Cut her...

Acma felt Zyma's cold blade pierce through her belly. Tears streamed down her face as she couldn't determine if the physical pain surpassed the heartbreak.

"Oh no... I have to use my blood now," the woman exclaimed as she examined Acma's insides.

"Are you sure you can do it?" Zyma's voice filled with concern.

"Yes, I'll take her blood bags once they thaw..." the woman said, attaching something to Acma's vein.

Siphon?

"That's her... There's no mistake about it. Shit..." Acma heard Zyma curse.

"It's fate, Z. She happened. She has to happen. We're part of her journey now. Quick, let's stitch her up and get out of here," the woman said.

The cry of her baby lulled Acma into sleep, knowing that her child had seen the world.


"Acma, wake up!"

Acma opened her eyes.

"My baby!" She rose from her bed, feeling a sharp pain in her abdomen.

"Be careful!" Elutia said, helping her lie back in bed.

"Where is she? Elutia, help me find her. They took her away." Acma cried.

"Who did this to you? What happened?" Elutia asked. "When we got back, Sean and Tatulia took care of you for days."

Acma then realized that Timeth and Shrewdya, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, were also present in the room.

"Zyma… he cheated on me with a woman and took away my child," Acma screamed out what happened.

"What? Acma, be calm," Elutia slowly said, restraining Acma's arms.

"That can't be true…"

"Shh…"

Shrewdya's words were cut off by Elutia.

"Sis, I know you're in shock. We're here to help. Tell us as much as you can, please," Elutia said.

Acma recounted what happened, her words coming out incoherent bursts.

"You're saying someone who looked like Zyma attacked you and took your child?" Elutia asked again.

"It was him! It must be him! His moves, his twists, his ninjato cut on my belly..." Acma screamed. "We have to find him, he has my baby!"

"We'll find her, all of us. Calm down, A," Timeth now spoke up. "What about the woman? Try to remember what she's like. What did they say? Anything that can give us a clue about who they might be?"

Acma tried to recall her memories.

"The woman wrote something on my laptop..."

"I'll get it..."

Elutia quickly rushed downstairs and returned with her laptop.

"Passcode?" she asked.

Confusion washed over Acma. Sensing her shock, Elutia asked again, "What's wrong?"

"The woman... she knew my passcode. It's a random hash of twenty characters without any meaning. I've never told anyone..." Acma explained.

"And she was able to open your laptop with your passcode?" Elutia narrowed his eyes. "I don't even know it."

"The only other way to open it is my fingerprint," Acma said slowly. "And you can't open it either, even twins don't have the same fingerprint..."

Acma remembered that the woman had tried placing her hand on the laptop before typing.

The fact that the woman had given her blood to Acma without hesitation. And that she knew she could use Acma's blood.

She shook her head in disbelief.

"I have a crazy idea about who they are," Acma murmured. "But…"

She unlocked her laptop and located the folder from the woman. There was a README file.

Build the Ellone, Dr. Odine. If you want to see your daughter again, kill Luluna.

Until we meet again.

A & Z


samaqi: You'll know the strange woman's identity in Succession of Witches's Alternative Ending II.

"From Z to A"'s prior to G-day happened before "Succession of Witches". The two universes then diverted from G-day. Please leave me a review! I'll add extra scenes here and there. Hope you all enjoy both fictions!