Missing (Maya POV)

Maya sighs as she walks towards the dining room for dinner, a long day in court over finally. While she was excited about her pregnancy, and wasn’t trying to hide it, the attention she received over it was a bit much sometimes. She generally accompanied Elys to hold court, managing issues while Josh was away. However, ever since her pregnancy became obvious, there seemed to be a lot of people simply there to watch her exclusively. Celebrity had its downsides.

The others had it better, being naturally more reclusive, and not really showing their pregnancies yet. Anna could still hide the small bump in normal clothes when in public, while Lynn and Yura rarely went out, content to relax in the more private areas of the castle.

As for the others, Elys was used to being in the public eye, having been royalty from birth. She fell into the leadership role easily, and Maya learned a lot from watching her. Rachel was helpful as well, having managed affairs at the AWIO for years. The older woman was also good at comforting Maya when the attention became too much for her. And Hana…

Maya stopped short, blinking in confusion. Where was Hana? Now that she thought about the slime girl, she couldn’t recall seeing her since Josh left. And she hadn’t even worried about it! Something was strange.

Quickening her steps, she enters the dining room, where everyone else is sitting down to eat. Notably absent is Hana. Elys looks at Maya, noticing the concern on the half-dragon’s face. “Isss sssomething wrong, Maya?”

Maya looks around. “Does anybody know where Hana is?”

Around the table, everyone looks confused, then surprised. Rachel is the first to speak. “No…I haven’t seen her in…over a week! Why didn’t I notice?”

Yura closes her eyes for a minute, then gasps. “I…she is gone. I can not see her. It is like she vanished. That should not be possible.”

Maya looks at the little selkie seer. “Vanished? You can’t find anything?”

Yura shakes her head. “Not even a trace. There is something…her room.”

Quickly, Maya leaves to go check Hana’s bedroom, hearing the others follow. When she opens the door and walks inside, the room feels…empty. Not just unoccupied, but as if it was meant to be forgotten. On the bed are two objects. The first is the bracelet Josh had given the slime girl, and the other is an envelope.

Maya picks the envelope up. On the front is written ‘I’m sorry’, and within is a letter. As Maya opens it, the others crowd around to read as well.