Chapter 437: Where is the Hollow Cradle?

The Grand Elder cleared his throat loudly, drawing everyone’s attention, and laid out the very first human demand. He looked Almeida straight in the face.

"We want all the humans who went missing from your side of the world," the Grand Elder said firmly. "Dead or alive."

Almeida’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits. He leaned back, thoroughly confused. "I... don’t quite understand what you mean."

The Grand Elder casually adjusted his tie, clearing his throat again. "Allow me to be specific. We want all the missing Soul Maidens back, as long as they are alive. Every single one."

"Aaaah!" Almeida said slowly in sudden realization, nodding his head repeatedly like a toy dashboard dog. "Oh! Those Soul Maidens! Right, right. Well... hate to break it to you, but most of those maidens on our side aren’t actually ’missing’ like you think."

Zyra’s eyes narrowed dangerously. She leaned so far across the table she was practically sitting on it. "If they aren’t missing, then where on earth are they?"

Almeida shrugged casually. "They are happily married to Somnivores."

A massive chorus of loud gasps exploded from the human side. Minds were blown. Jaws hit the floor.

"Wait, WHAT?!" someone yelled.

Almeida held up his hands defensively. "Hey, look, they are completely free to return if they want to. None of them is a prisoner. But I highly doubt any of them will come back. They’ve birthed kids, built nice families, and they’re living their best lives over there. Happier than when they were under the reign of your former divine maiden."

"And I am not letting my wives go!" Anukin suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs, slamming his fist down.

The Grand Elder slowly pointed an accusing finger at Anukin. "See? Right there! You sound like a guy holding prisoners in a basement!"

"No, no, I assure you!" Almeida quickly interjected, waving his arms frantically. "None of the maidens are prisoners. We gave them a choice, and they said they never wanted to come back to this side. What were we supposed to do, bind them and bring them back to crazy Trinity? We did not fail your soul maidens; you humans did that all on your own."

Some of what he said was true and it made the humans uncomfortable.

"Well," the Grand Elder sniffed, crossing his arms, "I’m going to have to hear that directly from their own mouths to believe it."

"No problem at all," Almeida said with a smooth smile. "Be my guest."

Tori winced, looking skeptical. "Is Zena Scorpion among them?"

"Zena... Scorpion?" Almeida repeated, testing the name on his tongue.

Zyra’s eyes narrowed into sharp, deadly slits. "I know for a fact my mother is alive. And the last time someone heard from her she mentioned a place called the Hollow Cradle!"

The exact second the words left her mouth, the glass cup in Anukin’s hand slipped and shattered into a million pieces across the floor. His hands trembled violently, his face turning ghostly white. Erik threw him an ice-cold glare from across the table.

Almeida blinked in genuine surprise. "Zena? I do know Zena personally."

The Grand Elder almost fell out of his chair. "You know her! How on earth do you know her?"

"She is a truly selfless woman," Almeida said, his voice dropping into a soft, respectful tone. "She actually saved my life once. I owe her a lot. But...wait, are you saying that she is on my side of the world?"

Tori scoffed loudly, rolling her eyes. "This alien is totally lying and I have had enough!"

Erik instantly exploded out of his seat, pointing a finger wildly at Tori. "HOW DARE YOU! You are calling our Supreme Leader a liar?!" He turned to the other Somnivores, practically foaming at the mouth. "Brothers! We cannot stay in a room where our supreme leader is disrespected like this!"

"This means war!" Anukin shrieked, totally losing his mind.

Within two seconds, absolute chaos broke loose. Everyone started screaming over each other, chairs scraping against the floor.

"You want war?! We’ll give you war, we have Zyra, so we are not afraid!" the humans shouted back, pulling out whatever weapons they had hidden.

Almeida slammed his bare hand onto the table so hard that a long crack split right down the middle of the wood. "SIT DOWN!" He roared. The thunderous command echoed through the room like a sonic boom.

Every single Somnivore immediately slammed back into their chairs, sitting up straight like terrified school kids who just got caught passing notes. Zero questions asked.

Almeida took a deep breath, smoothing his jacket, and turned to the Grand Elder. "My deepest apologies for the drama. I assure you, I am telling the truth. I have not seen Zena Scorpion in so many years. I genuinely want to get to the bottom of this, and I am going to investigate."

Zyra surprisingly spoke up, coming to his defense. "He’s actually telling the truth."

She knew the alien leader was currently under the influence of the truth-telling Oath Sap, meaning he couldn’t tell a lie if he tried. Besides, Zyra was smart_ she realized that if anyone had the actual power to help her find her parents beyond the veil, it was a big shot like him.

Zyra looked Almeida dead in the eyes. "So, what about this ’Hollow Cradle’?"

The Supreme Leader shook his head, looking utterly baffled. "I know every single territory on our side by name. There is no place called the Hollow Cradle."

Beside him, Ivar nodded in agreement. "He’s telling the truth. No such place exists."

Almeida looked back and forth between the Grand Elder and Zyra. "Why on earth do you guys think Zena is on our side anyway?"

"Because Zena told me herself!" Tori stated firmly.

"And there’s another missing maiden named Ava," Zyra added, leaning in. "The last place she mentioned before disappearing was the Hollow Cradle too."

Ivar’s eyes went wide. "Wait... Ava?!" He gasped, looking genuinely horrified. "I know Ava! She sent me a message saying she was coming back here to live with her uncle because Trinity was gone! She’s... she’s missing now! Are you sure?"

Almeida winced, a dark look crossing his face. "This is very suspicious. I will turn my side of the world upside down until I find them!"

Zyra looked at him, her gaze sharp. She had to be part of this search, and she would start with Anukin. Something about the change in his eyes when she mentioned her mother and Hollow Cradle seemed suspicious. "Can my team join the search party?"

Hunter stepped up beside Zyra, adding, "Zena is Zyra’s mother and my mother-in-law. Trust me, nobody wants to find her more than she does." He hoped his father got the message on how important Zena was to him.

Almeida looked at Zyra for a few seconds, then he turned his eyes back to Hunter. "The bigger the search party, the faster we’ll find them and get to the bottom of this." He then narrowed his eyes, falling into a deep, intense silence. His mind was racing. What on earth is going on behind my back? Who is hiding things from me?

He recalled Anukin’s reaction. His old friend was terrified, like he had been caught stealing secrets.

Almeida was deep in thought, practically staring into space, when Erik suddenly cleared his throat and popped the million-dollar question:

"So... when are you humans handing over our spaceship? That was why the war between our races started and it is the only way to end it. Return what you stole from us, or this is all a waste of time."