CHAPTER 392: HOME INVADER

Crystal had long since grown used to her Draconic eyes and honestly had no need for the blindfold anymore but at this point, it had become something she had grown accustomed to it. So when the void receded from around her, she was surprised to find herself....home.

The very same home that had once been so devoid of life was surprisngly filled with a sense of desperation that filled the halls.

"What do you mean you can’t find her?! It’s been months since she disappeared! She can’t have just vanished into thin air!"

Crystal’s body trembled as the desperate voice of the man yelling at someone filled the air. She could feel their heartache and worry.

Never had she heard her father speak like that. From around the corner, she could see his office, once a place of order and calm, was in total disarray.

Crystal stayed frozen at the edge of the hall, her sharp hearing catching every word spilling out of the office.

"What do you mean you cannot find her?!" the man barked into the receiver, his voice hoarse and trembling with anger. "It has been months since she disappeared! Months! You expect me to believe the best investigators in the city cannot find one girl?!"

Crystal flinched. That voice was unmistakable.

Her father, Lance.

But it was not the father she remembered.

The man she had grown up with had always been cold and composed, his words clipped and precise, his expression unreadable. His suits had always been pressed to perfection, his hair cut short and styled without a single strand out of place. He had been the sort of man whose disapproval you felt long before he spoke it.

Now, his voice was cracking on every other word.

"You told me you had leads," he continued, pacing across the office floor. The sound of footsteps echoed between bursts of shouting. "You told me she was alive! That was two weeks ago! Do not tell me to be patient! Do you have any idea what this family has been through?!"

Crystal’s claws curled slightly against her palms.

She took a step forward, peeking around the corner into the office.

Papers were everywhere. The desk drawers were half open, files spilled across the floor, as if he had torn through them himself in desperation. A half-empty bottle of whiskey sat on the edge of the desk, next to a glass with a faint ring of amber at the bottom.

Lance stood in the center of the room, one hand gripping the phone, the other buried in his messy hair. His shirt was wrinkled, the tie hanging loosely around his neck, the top buttons undone. His once sharp jawline was covered in the shadow of an unkempt beard, and his face was pale, drawn tight from sleepless nights.

Even from here, Crystal could smell the faint trace of alcohol on the air.

"I do not care how much it costs," Lance said, his voice cracking again. "I do not care what you have to do. You find her. Do you hear me? You find my daughter!"

Crystal’s heart twisted.

She had never seen him like this. Never imagined it was possible.

The phone slammed down hard enough to rattle the desk. He stood there for a long moment, hands braced against the wood, shoulders shaking as he drew in a sharp, uneven breath.

Crystal finally stepped into the room.

The sound of her footsteps made him lift his head.

His eyes locked on her.

For a heartbeat, he simply stared, as though afraid he was imagining her.

Crystal shifted uneasily under his gaze, her blindfold covering the draconic eyes she had long since grown accustomed to. "Father," she said quietly.

The receiver slipped from his hand, clattering to the floor.

"Crystal?" His voice was rough, uncertain, as if saying her name out loud might cause her to vanish.

She nodded once.

Lance moved from behind the desk slowly at first, then faster, almost stumbling as he crossed the room toward her. The cold, unfeeling man she remembered was gone. The one who reached for her now looked like someone who had been slowly falling apart for months.

"You are alive," he said, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly, as though making sure she was real.

"I... yes," Crystal said softly. She had not expected this. Not the wreckage in the room. Not the shaking in his voice. Not the red around his eyes like he had not slept in days.

Lance let out a harsh breath, part laugh, part sob, and pulled her into a tight embrace.

For a long moment, Crystal stood stiffly, unsure what to do. Then slowly, awkwardly, she returned the hug.

The scent of alcohol clung faintly to him, mixed with exhaustion and something raw she had never felt from him before.

He pulled back just enough to look at her, his hands still gripping her arms. "Your mother... she thought... we both thought..." He shook his head, unable to finish.

Crystal swallowed hard, realizing for the first time just how much her disappearance had broken him.

Luna and Greg had also been equally surprised to find themselves in an unfamiliar house but they had remained quiet as Crystal had her reunion with her father.

Greg rubbed the back of his head as he remarked in a hushed whisper "Well I kinda feel like out of of place here now."

He couldn’t help but feel incredibly out of place in this father daughter reunion. However when Greg spoke, Luna instantly sensed the danger.

Lance instantly perked up as he flourished his hand, a gun appeared in his hand and he pulled the trigger before anyone could say anything. Greg barely registered the flash of the muzzle before his vision was blocked by a large silver axe.

A loud ting noise proved the fact that Luna had blocked the bullet with her weapon, a frown on her face as she remarked "That was uncalled for Mr. Dragonia..."

"Was it? I don’t know you two and yet you are inside my home uninvited. You are trespassers!"

Luna didn’t know what to say to that as he was technically right. Greg on the other hand had cold sweat dripping down his back. If not for Luna, he definitely would have had an extra hole in his head. Something he was not really all that eager to have in the real world.

Lance still had his gun trained on the two intruders when Crystal placed her hand on his outstretched arm.

"Dad! They are my friends! Put the gun down!"

She was shocked to see her dad pull a gun out of nowhere but preventing the confrontation from escalating was more important right now.