Second update today so be sure to read the last chapter if you missed it!

<3 Sisi

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“You have twenty minutes to talk, then she will be going through that portal.”

Maeri had spent the last ten minutes wrapped in her father’s arms sitting on a bench in an empty break room as he kept apologizing for the crime he had committed against her.

“Against me,” Maeri scoffed in her mind, “It doesn’t even feel like it was against me. I do not know if I have suffered any due to what he did, if anything, I have probably been better off now than then. The crime was against the government really and now I am a victim of the government itself.”

Even her father’s new anti-magic shackles digging into her back could not prevent Maeri from further squeezing into his embrace. Jungmo had made it clear that this is the last time she would be seeing her father because there was no way to change what she was beginning to think of as her punishment. The girl promised herself to remember the feel of her father’s arms around her for as long as she lived.

Standing behind the girl and lovingly combing his fingers through her hair was Baekhyun. At first, Taeyeon had been reluctant to let him into the room with the father and daughter, but Maeri insisted on his presence. Even though she was not sure how he fit into all of this and was pretty sure that she would eventually see him again, in her future and in his past, she needed the comfort of her best friend. His fingers brushing along her scalp had been a common action between the girl and the vampire since she was a child and never failed to calm her down- well until now.

The government even granted Maeri’s request for Jae, her Fey mentor, to be brought in to say goodbye before she was sent off. He was sitting next to her father on the bench with an arm around the male mage and the other hand occupying the girl’s. Every so often Jae would squeeze one or the other of the pair to assure them of his presence.

The entire room screamed of mourning even though no one had died.

Minhyuk’s apologies were cut short by one soft statement from Baekhyun, “Don’t you think we should explain to her what is going to happen so Maeri can stay safe?”

With a sigh and one last tight squeeze, Minhyuk replied, “You are right.” He pulled back to look Maeri in the eyes. Even though both had bloodshot eyes from all the tears shed since they came to the police station, they never lost focus on one another. “What I am about to tell you does not mean you are any less of my daughter. I love you with all my heart and I always will.”

“Papa, I know that! I could never think of anyone else as my father and no matter what you tell me, I will always be your baby girl.”

With a sad smile Minhyuk began to tell his story. “Before I tell you about when the government will send you, I need to tell you how you ended up now. When I found you, I was in 1999 on a mission from the government. There had been a murder of two magical beings, but the case was never solved by the authorities because they were human. It was unclear if the Shadow Counsel, the secret magical government from before the Integration, had ever solved it due to the records being destroyed during the Integration, so the present government sent me back to determine the species of the magical beings killed and to witness their murder. The husband and wife appeared to be two mages who were killed by a berserking werewolf, not something unusual at the time unfortunately. As I was slipping away from their home to find a private space to return to the present without any humans seeing, I saw two small children appear at the edge of the yard. The elder of the two hugged the younger and pushed her in the direction of the house before turning and running off into the park that separated it from the rest of the neighborhood. The girl walked up to the front door of the home and pressed the doorbell alerting the werewolf of her presence. Just as he went to tear open the door and attack the girl, I grabbed her and returned to the present. I returned to February 14th, 2975 with you in my arms. I filed my report on the murder with the government and brought you to the police station the next day claiming to have found you abandoned in the park that evening after I had returned. The police had to keep an open report for a month to ensure you did not match any missing child reports, but I knew no one would claim you as their own since you did not belong in this time. At the end of the month I was able to formally adopt you and you have been my baby girl ever since.”

While the other men in the room stayed silent