The next day, I was back in the Great Dome, checking the comm’s system for any messages. There was nothing. I zoomed in on the resort on Strava again, but there was nothing. Of course, that could simply mean that they were all sleeping—it was daytime there, too. And yet, there was a part of me that was growing more anxious now.

I pressed the comm’s button again.

“Mom, are you there? Did you get my last message?” I called out. There was a slight tremble in my voice. I recognized it as angst. Caleb had spent half the night talking to me, reassuring me that everything was okay, and that my parents were probably too busy having fun to check their messages. “Anybody? Hello!”

There was no answer. My stomach tightened into a cluster of raw nerves as I started pacing the hall. Maybe they were all okay, but still… I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Mom should have at least replied to my messages.

A couple of hours later, after numerous back-and-forths with myself over this, I summoned Ben to the Great Dome. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing. After all, these were our parents and the founders of GASP, not our inexperienced kids stranded on a foreign planet. Heck, our group wasn’t even stranded. They were on vacation.

“Still no answer?” Ben asked as soon as he walked in.

I shook my head, frowning slightly.

He stared at the screen for a while. “Well, it’s daytime now. They’re probably sleeping.” He noticed my subtle eyeroll and chuckled softly. “Okay, okay. Tell you what. Let’s wait until sundown, then pay Viola, Jovi, and Phoenix a visit on Calliope. Maybe they’re seeing something more from their telescope there, or maybe they can help, okay? Assuming, of course, that Mom and Dad won’t get back to us by then. You haven’t even given them a full day since your last message.”

I scoffed, then crossed my arms, pouting. “I’ll bet you think I’m overreacting.”

“A little, but it’s okay,” he replied, smiling. “Our family does have a history of getting into unexpected trouble, so your concerns are not misplaced. It’s just that Harper and the others checked the planet before they even built the resort. We know it’s safe. Nevertheless, you have every right to be worried, and I promise I will do my best to address that. Sound fair?”

I thought about it for a second, then nodded.

A few hours passed, and the sun came down. Ben and I left River and Caleb to hold down the fort in The Shade, in our absence, and slipped through the portal directly into Luceria’s throne room. The place was as beautiful as ever, with ivory-white marble walls and gilded details on a domed ceiling. Draven and Serena were standing by one of the tall windows overlooking the green, seemingly endless fields to the north.

Serena lit up like the sun when she saw me.

“Grandma Rose!” she exclaimed, then rushed to hug me. I held her tight for a minute, welcoming the energy she filled me with whenever we touched. Maybe it had something to do with her sentry nature, or maybe it was just her contagious happiness. Whatever it was, I loved it, as it took the edge off of everything I was experiencing in that moment.

“Hi, sweetie,” I said, then nodded at Draven. “Good to see you both.”

“What are you doing here?” Serena asked, stepping back as she looked at both me and Ben.

“What, so I don’t get a hug?” Ben quipped.

Serena laughed, then wrapped her arms around him and held him tight for a good half minute. “Sorry, Uncle Ben. I thought you weren’t the huggable type.”

“Nonsense. I am always up for some family love!” He chuckled, then looked at me. “Your grandmother and I are here to see Phoenix and Viola. And Jovi, if he’s around.”

“Is everything okay?” Draven asked, his grayish gaze fixed on me. The Druid had a knack for spotting the slightest change in my expressions. Sometimes, his accuracy scared me, but, to be honest, it did come in handy to be able to read body language like that.

“Yes, everything’s good,” I said. “I… We just want to check on our parents on Strava. They haven’t replied to my last messages, so I just want to make sure they’re okay.”

Serena thought about it for a moment, then frowned. “Maybe they’re just sleeping. Or busy, out exploring the islands. There’s so much to see there. Two weeks are not enough, I tell ya.”

I gave her a weak smile. “I’m sure, honey, but still. For my peace of mind.”

“Oh, sure, absolutely!” Serena replied, then gave Draven a quick glance. “Do we know where my brother and cousin are?”

“They’re on Mount Zur. You’ll probably find them in the main training hall. The telescope is upstairs, though,” Draven replied. “Ben, Rose, you two go upstairs, and I’ll have Viola fetch Phoenix and Jovi for you.”

I nodded, then headed for the door, with Ben right behind me.

“Thank you both,” I said, just as Ben opened the door and waited for me to go out first. Ever the gentleman…

“Do you need us for anything?” Serena asked.

“We’re good, honey. Don’t worry!” I replied, then walked out.

Less than twenty minutes after we settled in the observatory room on the top floor of Luceria’s palace, Viola appeared out of thin air, holding Jovi’s and Phoenix’s hands. Both boys looked pale and queasy, slightly wobbling from their unnatural trip.

“Gah, I’ll never get used to this.” Jovi blinked several times to regain focus.

Viola smirked. “You will. At some point.”

“Get used to having my whole being disintegrate, scatter away, and regroup in a different location? I highly doubt that,” Jovi replied, then raked a hand through his curly black hair. “Corrine’s a lot smoother with this stuff…”

“I’m a Daughter, not a witch,” Viola said.

“Grandma Rose, Uncle Ben,” Phoenix greeted us. “Draven said you needed to talk to us?”

Ben and I looked at each other, then smiled at the kids.

“Yes. Thank you for coming,” I replied. “Is there any chance you could maybe zoom the telescope even closer to Strava?”

“Why? What’s up? Everything okay with Great-Grandpa Derek and the others?” Phoenix asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Well, that’s not a satisfying answer,” Jovi cut in, his brow furrowed. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing we can be sure of,” Ben replied. “Personally, I don’t think we should be worried, but your great-grandma hasn’t replied to any of Rose’s messages via Bowie since yesterday.”

“Weren’t they due to come back last night?” Phoenix asked, then went over to the telescope and fiddled with its control gears and looked through its large visor piece.

“Yes, but we figured they wanted to extend their stay,” I said. “We saw black dots moving around the resort, particularly on the beach, so we know they’re there. I just don’t understand why they’re not picking up on Bowie.”

“Ugh. Maybe there’s something wrong with Bowie,” Jovi offered. “It is a prototype, after all, and this is his first long-term trip to Strava to begin with. The longest we’ve had him out there was for five days, and we didn’t encounter any glitches.”

“You’re right, there might be something wrong with the comms,” Ben replied. “But still, I think both Rose and I would be more comfortable if we had better eyes on our parents and the others.”

Viola took a deep breath, then glanced at the telescope with a pensive expression.

“There’s something I’ve been considering for the past couple of days,” she murmured. “I’ve been itching to improve the telescope’s accuracy, to be honest. I’ve only put it down in theory, on paper, but I haven’t tried it.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Adding a couple of specialty lenses,” she replied. “I can sharpen them with swamp witch magic and mount them on top of the others. Technically speaking, it could give us a better view of the resort, though I don’t know with what level of image quality.”

“Would it be better than what we already have?” Ben asked, then took Phoenix’s place by the telescope, to check the view through the visor.

“I think so, yes,” Viola said.

Phoenix smiled, lovestruck as always. He’d fallen in love with the Eritopian equivalent of a half-goddess, but it was her mind, not her power, that made him adore her. He’d said so himself, more than once.

“You never cease to amaze me.” Phoenix gazed at Viola, who smiled in return, her cheeks turning pink.

“You give me too much praise,” she replied, as sweet and as humble as always, and the complete opposite of her sometimes-capricious sisters. Nevertheless, the Daughters of Eritopia were a force to be reckoned with, so I felt pretty comfortable with the idea of Viola helping us.

“Okay, let’s do it, then,” I said, smiling. “Is there anything we can help you with?”

Viola shook her head. “Not really, no,” she replied. “You could try to relax, though. I’m sure Derek, Sofia, and the others are okay.”

My shoulders dropped, and I exhaled sharply. “I know, I know. I’m probably overreacting, but—”

“Nonsense, Grandma!” Phoenix chimed in. “You have every right to worry. Not sure you remember, but we vanished from a fae party and landed in the middle of an Eritopian war!”

Ben and I chuckled. “Yeah, but this is different, Phoenix. We know where they are and why they’re there,” my brother said.

“Yeah, we sent the old bats on a vacation,” Jovi cut in, grinning.

Ben jokingly narrowed his eyes at him. “I’ll make sure Xavier and Vivienne know you said that.”

Jovi’s grin vanished in an instant. “You don’t have to take things to such an extreme, Uncle Ben.”

It didn’t take Viola long to perform an upgrade on Corrine’s telescope. All she needed were a couple of clear lenses, crafted from a relatively rare crystal. Fortunately, Draven had been stocking up on spell materials and had a steady supply coming in from the southern markets on a weekly basis. Viola had everything she needed within her reach.

She carefully carved the swamp witch symbols onto the edges of each lens, then mounted them inside the telescope, in front of the others. Once all the screws and pieces were back on and tightened, she whispered the incantation required to activate the additional lenses.

A bright flash flickered inside the telescope, then faded.

“Where’d you learn to do that?” Jovi asked her.

Viola shrugged. “I’ve been toying with adaptations of swamp witch spells,” she replied. “I’ve deciphered the rest of the triple tome, and I’ve been studying possible combinations. Every incantation in that book can work on its own, or it can be combined with others to produce a different outcome or effect. The lenses were just a recent idea that I’d yet to put into practice.”

“Well, good thing I tend to worry a lot, then.” I chuckled.

She gave me a sympathetic smile, then looked through the visor and tweaked the view by turning different knobs next to it. She gasped. “It worked!”

My heart jumped. I rushed to her side, but politely waited for her to move out of the way so I could look. Within seconds, Ben was standing next to me, equally anxious to see closer into Strava. For all his laidback remarks, he sure seemed eager to check on our parents now!

Viola looked at me but didn’t smile this time. There were shadows of concern gathering in her bright violet eyes. I didn’t like it one bit.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my voice barely audible.

“You’d better look for yourself,” she replied, then moved away so I could take her place.

I peered through the visor, astonished by the image clarity and overall accuracy. I could see the white sand’s faint texture, the palm leaves, and the resort in full detail. But the black dots we’d seen before weren’t my parents and their friends. At least, not at this point, as I was seeing it.

There were large feline predators prowling around, with turquoise fur coats and long tails. There was no sign of Mom, Dad, Xavier, Vivienne, Lucas, Marion, or anyone else. The resort itself was in pristine condition. There was no damage done anywhere—no broken glass or wooden railings… no trace of any kind of struggle.

The felines themselves were outside, on the beach and curiously sniffing around the firepit.

Something gripped at my stomach as I took Bowie’s mobile counterpart, a second metallic ball, out of my coat pocket, and pressed the comm’s button.

“Mom, Dad! Are you there? Can anyone hear me?” I called out again, keeping my eyes on the resort. There was no sign of them whatsoever.

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked.

I stepped back and motioned for him to look. He settled in front of the visor and took his time, moving the telescope slightly and checking the surrounding areas, as well. I heard him curse under his breath.

He then straightened his back and looked at us.

“What is it, Uncle Ben?” Phoenix asked, visibly concerned.

“They’re not there,” Ben replied. “Not sure if the animals we saw just now are the same as the black dots we’ve been spotting on the feed for the past couple of weeks.”

“What?!” Phoenix croaked, then looked through the visor as well, followed by Jovi.

“I don’t think so. I mean, I spoke to Mom… four days ago,” I said, my voice trembling. “Maybe they’re still out, exploring, or something.”

Somehow, I’d gone back to a stage of denial, while Ben’s alarm was increasing. We’d switched places in a way, probably because, deep down, I refused to accept the possibility that something must’ve happened.

“Those are big cats,” Phoenix said, crossing his arms. “They’re big, but any of our elders can take them on, easily.”

“Exactly,” Jovi added. “They probably caught the scent of blood from whatever Derek and the others have been hunting. It wouldn’t be the first time. They did the same when we were there, building the resort. They’re drawn to the smell of flesh. It’s food for them.”

I let out a tortured sigh.

“Grandma, did you see the fire still burning in the pit?” Phoenix asked.

I frowned, then went back and had a second look through the visor. Phoenix was right. There were still a couple of blazing embers in the firepit. It looked as though it had been burning for a while, though I couldn’t give an accurate estimate.

“Yes. But it’s dying out,” I said. “It’s probably been burning for, I don’t know, six… ten hours? I can’t be sure.”

“Where are they, though?” Ben replied, scratching the back of his head.

It all became clear, at least for me, what we had to do from that point onward.

“Ben, let’s go there,” I said. He looked at me, his eyes wide and eyebrows raised. “Just you and me, for now,” I added. “There’s no need to alarm the others. Like you said before, maybe they’re out there exploring or whatever. But, since Bowie may not be working, I’d be a lot more comfortable if we just traveled there and looked for them ourselves.”

Phoenix scoffed. “We’re coming with you.”

“No, there’s no need,” I replied firmly. “Not at this point. I don’t want Mom and Dad to think we’re micromanaging them or something. I’ll take Ben. We’ll set up the Telluris spell and use the interplanetary spell. Easy stuff. We’ll be back by midnight tomorrow.”

“What if you can’t find them?” Jovi asked.

“Then we’ll call for help and get a search party down there,” Ben replied. “Rose is right. Our parents—hell, that whole group is fearsome. There’s no way a bunch of wild animals got the better of them. Not with a witch and warlock on their crew. We’ll just go check things out, and if everything’s okay and they’re just wandering through the woods like careless teenagers without checking in with us, we’ll just reprimand them and come back,” he added with a half-smile.

Viola nodded. “I’ll summon Draven, then, so he can set up Telluris with you,” she said, then closed her eyes. She lit up pink as she reached out to the Master Druid of Calliope telepathically—yet another Daughter trick she’d discovered over the past couple of months. Viola wasn’t as well-versed as her sisters, but she was growing fast and catching up. By the end of the year, I was confident she’d be on par.

As the pink light faded away, she opened her eyes and smiled. “He’s on his way,” she murmured.

“Can you set up an interplanetary spell for us?” I asked her.

“Yes, I can,” she replied. “We brought back soil samples from Strava. I’ll use them to set your destination.”

Ben scoffed, shaking his head slowly. “Am I… Are we being paranoid now?”

“I thought you said it was okay to be worried,” I shot back with a smirk.

“Yeah, but now I’m starting to think that maybe I was wrong,” he replied.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I told him teasingly. “We’ll go check it out ourselves. Whatever we find, we’ll be together, and we’ll know what to do, okay?”

Ben stared at me for a while, then smiled gently.

“It’s been a while since we’ve done a mission together, huh?” he said.

I nodded. “It’s about time we got the twinkies crew together, don’t you think?” I replied.

He sighed. “Absolutely.”

I couldn’t shake the doubt sneaking into my soul. Maybe something was wrong on Strava. Maybe we’d missed something during our initial review of the planet. Then again, maybe Mom, Dad, and the others were just out on a longer trip, venturing farther away from Noagh and the entire Prekk Archipelago.

Either way, there was only one way to know for sure.