Dimensional Descent

Aina dove into her father's arms, her tears falling like rain. For some odd reason, though, she was completely silent, her shoulders hardly trembling and her sobs having been completely stifled.

Miel couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. One because Aina had jumped from a still moving ship. Two because his daughter was far taller than he thought she could be—and that was saying something considering his own height. And three because she was actually… crying?

Miel had never seen his daughter cry before. Aina had never personally witnessed her mother's death, Miel hadn't allowed her to. However, Aina had definitely experienced every bit of the curse being etched into her body as a little girl, and she hadn't shed a single tear then—something that definitely couldn't be said for Miel himself.

Even when Miel was forced to separate from Aina, leaving her to Earth's orphanage system, he hadn't seen Aina shed a single tear.

So, what exactly was happening here? Was he seeing things? Was this maybe not his daughter at all? But with his demeanor and presence, who else would ignore it all just to hug him if not for his daughter?

What Miel didn't know was that it wasn't that his daughter had never cried… It was just that she had never cried in his presence. This could be said to be the very first time it had happened and he wasn't exactly sure how to react to it.

If he knew this truth, he could probably guess why. After all, his method of training Aina in her youth had been no different from how he would have treated her had she been his son rather than his daughter.

If he was honest, had Aina come sniveling and crying to him when she was five years old, it would have been more likely for her to receive a reprimanding as opposed to any sort of care and attention. If there was anything of the sort in Aina's life, it had only come from her mother who had long since passed.

But, oddly enough, now that Aina was a grown woman of 21 years of age, Miel didn't have the instinctual reaction he would have normally had. This wasn't because he didn't want to have it, but rather because he was too caught off guard.

cry before you as a toddler, only for them to suddenly burst like a dam when they should have been an adult… How would you

exactly why Aina wasn't sobbing. For the first time, she couldn't completely control herself before her father,

shoulders. She sniffled slightly, but didn't dare to look up at her father. She knew

stopped, a decision marking out a place in

She didn't need them. This could be considered the last time she

but it was at that moment that Aina had regained enough calm to look up. Whatever words he was going to say vanished within

of bright amber eyes seemed suffused

An unfeeling

all that

of his crimson beard. He looked down at his daughter silently. Even through her black mask,

to tell just what it was he was thinking

**

his gaze reflecting a cold light. Another spirit fell, but Leonel himself wasn't nearly as healthy or fresh

number of shallow injuries. Though his revamped chain necklace had been able to repair the rips in his clothing,

since all the

body grew more sluggish and heavy. His mind was just as fast as it had always been, but his reactions were lagging behind further and