Misfortune

"You foolish boy! Promise me you'll never do something so stupid ever again." Lilia said with red-eyes, hugging her son tightly.

"I promise, Mother." Little Minos smiled, returning the hug.

"Well since you're safe, I'm going after him!" Lilia said firmly.

"Mother, you can't!"

"Don't worry, your Mother isn't a flower in a green-house, it seems you've forgotten just how advanced my cultivation is." Lilia said, proceeding to release a bit of pressure towards Little Minos.

Despite only feeling a small fraction of Lilia's cultivation, Little Minos still found himself overwhelmed, clear that his mother was likely even stronger then his father.

Realizing he didn't have the strength to stop her, little Minos thought for a moment before a light suddenly went off in his mind.

Since he couldn't stop her, the least he could do was try and redirect her, keeping her out of his fathers path!

"Okay, but I'll only let you go if you take me with you!" Little Minos said, just as firm as his mother.

"Hmm, okay, but you have to stay behind me at all times." Lilia said, deciding to agree after some thought.

"No problem." Little Minos agreed, the two immediately preparing the carriages and guards before heading off.

"Where shall we head?" Lilia asked her son next to her.

After some thought, little Minos pointed towards a far off point on the outside of the city, having chosen the area at random.

"Hmm, why that area?"

"Given how smart Rovo is, it's clear he wouldn't take the most obvious exit, so odds are he left from behind the city."

"That explains the direction, but why that spot specifically?" Lilia kept asking.

"No reason, the truth is given how long the city walls extend, it's impossible to really know where he'd go, so I just chose at random." Little Minos said truthfully.

"Hmm, fair enough, then let's head there first." Lilia said, feeling that with her son's tremendous fortune, he may just stumble onto the truth indirectly.

Of course little Minos thought no such thing, and in his mind, given just how big the area was, the chance he'd actually stumble into his father was next to zero.

…

Back in the underground tunnels, Minos was walking carefully as he supported his family from the constant tremors that traveled through the earth.

"He really isn't willing to let us leave, is he?" Minos joked as the explosions continued to go off from behind them.

"He's a madman! Isn't he afraid of harming civilians?" Tinka questioned as she wiped the dust from her face.

"I doubt the civilians' safety has even crossed his mind once, after all, this isn't just chump-change he's after, but rather an amount that could shift the entire world." Minos smiled, pointing back to his backpack.

"You're right, I suppose that much money would drive even the sanest person crazy." Tinka sighed, hugging her husband tightly to avoid getting tossed about by the vibrations.

"Dad, how long until we can escape?" Rinka asked from Minos's shoulders, Minos having long since taken to carrying her so as to avoid her getting hurt.

"Just a bit longer, we're almost there."

Not long after Minos replied, a soft light came from the distance, Rinka shouting out in excitement as she pointed towards it.

"A light! We're finally leaving!"

Smiling, Minos didn't say anything, just picking up his pace, soon stepping out into a dense forest, the massive walls of Aleph City right behind him.

"Yayy!" Rinka said excitedly, jumping down from her fathers shoulders and taking a deep breath, having long since missed the smell of fresh air.

"Now where do we go?" Tinka asked, knowing full-well that they still weren't completely out of danger.

"Where else, back home."

"But the journey will take years!" Rinka quickly said.

"What about the teleportation formation we used to get here?" Tinka suggested.

"Unfortunately that teleportation formation was only one-way." Minos answered.

"What kind of stupid design is that?!" Rinka complained.

"Well it's a lot easier and cheaper to maintain, so while it may seem stupid to you, they likely chose it for good reason back when it was first constructed."

"Hmph, still stupid." Rinka groaned.

"You're right, it is stupid, but what can you do? Anyways, let's get to walking, we don't have the luxury to sit around and talk." Minos said, rushing his family along through the thick foliage.

As Minos was walking, he heard a slight sound off from the distance, his pupils dilating as he realized that someone was in this forest along with them.

Almost instinctively, Minos shot his head up towards the sky, his eyes focusing as he looked at the birds flying past chaotically.

However as they flew, he suddenly noticed one bird that was off, and with a closer inspection, he realized it was a puppet.

"F***, we've got to run!" Minos said before suddenly taking both his wife and daughter into hand and bursting off into the distance.

…

"Miss Lilia, we've got something!" A guard said as he was looking at the puppets' feedback.

"Looks like this puppet-technology we made from the Rovo is actually quite useful. What did you see?" Lilia asked.

"It was just a blur from the distance, but there was definitely more than one person!" The guard answered.

"Hmm, interesting. Go after them, we may just get lucky." Lilia smiled, though little Minos behind her was feeling different.

Even though he seemed unperturbed on the outside, inside his heart was racing, wondering whether his luck was actually so bad.

"Let me see that device." He asked, taking the screen from the guards hands.

"Uhh, just make sure to not go any lower your Highness, or they may be able to reach us." The guard said as the screen was ripped from his hands.

Not replying, little Minos just looked towards the screen, the small blur moving rapidly on the bottom instantly catching his attention.

Like the guard said, the puppet couldn't really make out much of a visual from such a height, so against the guards wishes, he immediately controlled the bird to descend.

As it got lower and lower, the image got clear, Minos's iconic white hair becoming clear from the distance.

Before little Minos could even exclaim in shock, Minos shot a bullet of Nux towards the flying-puppet, causing it to explode, rendering the screen black.

"What happened?" The guard asked as he saw little Minos's gaping face.

"My heaven, what did you do!" The guard exclaimed, finally noticing the black screen.

"I just wanted a better look." Little Minos said, quickly controlling his emotions.

Knowing he couldn't actually chastise the Crown Prince, the guard could only suffer in silence before sending out another puppet, hoping he hadn't lost the trail.

"Forget about the puppet, I've already found them." Lilia said, carrying little Minos before hoping out of the carriage and bolting off.

Watching Lilia and little Minos disappear into the distance, the guards and maids could only look at each other, as if asking what to do.

"Keep following, and pick up the pace!" The head guard shouted, quickly re-gathering the crowd's focus.

…

"Dad, did we lose them?" Rinka couldn't help but ask as they flew through the forest at a tremendous speed.

"No, in fact it seems like we've been caught." Minos said, his steps coming to a pause as a figure appeared from ahead of him.

As the figure appeared, she couldn't help but pause, her eyes blinking rapidly as if unable to accept who she was actually seeing.

"M-M-M-Minos…?" Lilia said, her shock so deep that she unconsciously dropped little Minos, causing him to jump back up with a little bit of embarrassment.

"Lilia, long time no see." Minos replied, though his face was apathetic, making it clear this meeting wasn't a swell one.

"I've finally found you! Finally! And just when I thought you were gone forever." Lilia said, her voice soon turning into a maniacal laugh, causing Tinka and Rinka to look at each other with strange faces.

"No wonder dad ran, she's crazy!" Rinka whispered, causing her mother to actually nod in agreement for once.

"Lilia, I left you for a reason, and if you have any decency, you'll let me leave again." Minos said, though he already knew Lilia wasn't one to be persuaded by such words.