Chapter 430: News on Zena.

Zyra stood there, completely rendered speechless, as the twins and Maverick descended upon the table. They didn’t just eat; they raided the feast like ravenous beasts that had just been unchained after a decade of starvation. Gravy flew, bread rolls disappeared into thin air, and for a second, Zyra wondered if her fingers were safe near the platter. The rate at which they were eating, even the edible beasts were in danger.

The grand elder cleared his throat and gestured to Loveline. "Refill those empty bowls and trays, quickly. Maverick could eat a whole cow right now, it seems."

Loveline scurried off with a look of pure bewilderment on her face.

Zyra tapped her foot against the floor, arms crossed, counting every agonizing chew. One... two... three... She was practically vibrating with impatience, waiting for the exact moment the cutlery hit the plates so she could finally demand some answers.

The last fork rested.

"Alright," Zyra jumped in immediately, leaning over the table. "Which one of you is Tori?"

The woman with the sleek bob cut let out a loud, unabashed belch, slapped her hand over her chest, and lazily raised her hand. "That would be me."

"And I’m Holly," the one with the ponytail chimed in, using a napkin to wipe a rogue spot of sauce off her cheek.

Zyra took a deep breath, closed her eyes to compose herself, and then locked her gaze onto Tori. "You’ve been talking about my mother like she’s just playing hide and seek out there. Is she alive?"

Holly leaned back in her chair and shrugged. "Look, until we see an actual body, Zena is considered very much alive to us. This is Zena that we are talking about here. She has more lives than a cat. I once saw that woman swallowed by a crocodile and she tunneled out of its belly somehow!"

"We’ve been subtly searching for her," Tori added, picking up a toothpick. "We used ’treasure hunting’ as our cover story so nobody would get suspicious. Who knows what that Viper Trinity would have done if she found out that Zena was not as dead as we reported?"

The grand elder shifted forward in his chair, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the armrests. "And? Did you find anything?"

Tori let out a long, heavy sigh that deflated her shoulders, shaking her head. "Not a trace."

"I haven’t found anything either," Maverick piped up, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "And, uh... the reason I didn’t reach out for a while was because... well, I got bitten by a venomous spider. It paralyzed me and wrapped me up like a burrito in a cocoon. The twins had to cut me out."

Tori made a sharp tsk sound and stared at Maverick with absolute disappointment. "A spider, Maverick? Really? A full-grown man taken down by a bug. You are lucky we found you when we did."

"It was a giant spider!" Maverick defended himself, waving his hands around. "And it spit out a lot of threads!"

Tori rolled her eyes, ignoring his whining, and turned back to the room. "Anyway, the last time I actually heard from Zena_"

"Wait!" Zyra cut in, her heart hammering against her ribs. "When was this ’last time’? Her letter said she came to see you in Aurora Dominion because she was on the run. Since then, she vanished. My dad as well."

Tori nodded, "Yes we spoke and she told me that she was going to tell the grand elder the truth. She said the guilt was eating her alive."

"Oh..." Zyra said with a deep frown, she expected more.

Tori leaned forward on the table and spoke, "The last time I heard from Zena was after she went missing."

A collective gasp echoed across the room. It was as if someone had just injected a big dose of hope straight into their veins. Eyes lit up, breath caught in throats, and the air instantly turned electric.

"She sent a soul message," Tori continued, tapping her temple. "It was super faint, but the last thing I heard was something about a... candle? Or a cradle? We’ve been burning our brains out trying to figure out what on earth she was trying to tell us. The signal was terrible_ like something was jamming it_ and then it just got wiped out completely."

"’Candle’ or ’Cradle’?" the grand elder mused aloud, stroking his ear in deep thought.

Zyra’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits as the dots started connecting in her head. "Could it be... the Hollow Cradle?"

Her words hit the room like a dropped tray of glassware. Everyone froze, their curiosity instantly piqued.

Holly winced, tilting her head as she looked at Zyra. "Okay, hit the brakes. What in the world is a ’Hollow Cradle’?"

Tori leaned in, looking thoughtful. "I did hear rumors that the young Scorpion was running around asking questions about her mother. It can’t be a random coincidence that you know about this cradle."

"Because another soul maiden sent a message mentioning it," Zyra explained, her voice tight with urgency. "And the connection was just as garbage as yours_ breaking apart, super static. But Yuda definitely heard the words Hollow Cradle loud and clear."

Holly slapped her palm onto the table, making the goblets rattle. "That’s it! It’s got to be the same thing. It cannot be a coincidence."

"I see the connection too...both soul maidens, both never heard from again." Tori pinched her lips.

Maverick scratched his head, looking utterly confused. "Okay, great, we have a name. But what actually is a Hollow Cradle?"

Tori threw her hands up in the air with a helpless shrug. "Who knows? It could be a person, a hybrid, a Somnivore, a secret underground hideout, or a giant floating turnip for all we know!"

"A h..hybrid?!" Alessa gasped, clutching her heart like she was about to faint on the spot. "Hybrid of what?"

"Don’t panic yet!" Tori quickly added. "I’m just spitballing here! I am talking about human-alien hybrids. This is the kind of news you should have heard from your father."

Alessa swallowed hard and spoke. "There are hybrids? Real hybrids?"

Tori looked at Alessa, then pivoted her gaze toward the Grand Elder, her eyebrows raised in sheer disbelief. "Wait, let me get this straight," Tori said, crossing her arms. "You mean to tell me hybrids have been living right under our noses this whole time, and you didn’t think to inform the public or anyone else? Yet here you are, planning to sit at a fancy round table with literal aliens for tea and negotiations while promising openness?"