A Zoologist’s Guide to Surviving Magical Creatures

Jiuge arched a brow. "Again?"

I nodded. "The missing creatures. The special investigators. If they're still alive, they're probably trapped inside that ruin. And if the leyline's involved, we need to go deeper this time."

My gaze swept over the group. "Agnos, Jiuge, and I will enter. We can bring in other special investigator teams, but they have to wait outside the ruins and prepare for rescue mission."

Fenrir's grin was back, sharp and wolfish. "You might want to add one more person to your team."

I narrowed my eyes. "Who?"

Agnos turned to Fenrir, already scowling. "Don't you dare."

Fenrir's smirk widened. "Oh, come on, Agnos. What's wrong with a little family reunion?"

Jiuge sighed, rubbing her temples. "Carl, Agnos has a brother."

I blinked. "Wait. You have a brother?"

Agnos groaned. "Half-brother."

Fenrir's chuckle was all teeth. "Oh, and he's delightful. Unrefined, sure, but still family."

I squinted. "Unrefined? What, is he also a cat?"

Agnos scoffed. "Please. That hound—"

"Hound?" I cut in. "Hold on. You mean he's a dog?!"

Agnos shot me a flat look. "Wolf."

Fenrir shrugged, looking smug. "Like me. Only less attractive. Very proficient in shadow elements. And quite a handful of Land of the Dead under his domain too."

I gaped as I turned to Fenrir for clarification. "So… Agnos has a half-brother who's a wolf."

"Yes."

"And he's proficient in shadows."

"Yes."

"And he also has the land of the dead under his domain."

"…Yes."

The puzzle pieces clicked together in my brain like a gun being loaded.

I stared at Agnos. "Wait. Don't tell me—Heim is your half-brother?!"

Agnos stayed silent, his frown deepening. Yeah, no kidding. He and his half-brother clearly weren't on the best of terms. Not that it was any of my business. I had more pressing concerns than their awkward family drama.

Fenrir cleared his throat, cutting through the tension. "Anyway, when do you plan to enter the Lost Realm?"

I opened my mouth, then hesitated. "First, I need to talk to my dad. I mean…" My voice trailed off.

What was I even supposed to call him now?

For my entire life, he was just Dad. My family. My anchor. But after everything I'd learned… Was that still true? And Mom—was she a Theos too? Had my entire existence been some kind of cosmic joke? My stomach twisted.

The room went uncomfortably quiet. Everyone exchanged glances like they were afraid to say anything.

Then, Baku stirred awake with a groggy stretch. "Apologies. I was recuperating. Where were we?"

Naga dismissed him before he could catch up, and one by one, the others filed out of the room, leaving just the two of us.

"Carl," Naga said, his voice steady. "No matter what happens, we're your family too. Everyone here at MECCP is."

Then he patted my shoulder—just once, light and brief—before leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I sat there for a while, staring at nothing, trying to shove all the tangled emotions into some kind of order. It didn't work.

With a sharp breath, I stood up and headed to the interrogation room.

Time to face the man who pretended to be my father.

************

Ricardo Suis sat in the chair, his posture all nonchalant, like a man who had long since stopped caring about self-preservation. His eyes carried that same reckless confidence—like nothing in this world could shake him.

I let out a slow breath and took a seat across from him. The moment he saw me, a small smirk tugged at his lips.

"Only now you decide to visit your old man?" he said, like we were just catching up over coffee.

I didn't blink. "You're not my dad."

His smirk faltered for half a second before twisting into something amused. "Oh? So you remember now? Memories all back?"

I held his gaze. My memories? No. They were still a blank void where my childhood should've been.

"No," I said, voice steady. "But I do have questions. Who were my real parents?"

Ricardo's expression tightened, just for a moment, before he sighed. He looked at me like—ugh—like an actual parent trying to explain something complicated to their kid. Which was so annoying, considering the whole kidnapping and memory-wiping situation.

"I don't know," he said. Flat. Final.

I frowned. He doesn't know? Was he lying? I studied his face, searching for any tells.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "You don't believe me. But it's the truth. We found you in the forest one day. You were surrounded by animals."

I blinked. "Wait. What?"

"Yeah." He leaned back, completely at ease. "We thought we were about to witness a wild animal attack. But then we realized they weren't hurting you. They were protecting you."

A silence stretched between us as I tried to process that.

"…So what you're telling me is, I was just out there in the woods, chillin' with nature like some kind of Disney protagonist?"

Ricardo chuckled. "That's one way to put it."

I ran a hand down my face. Great. My origin story was a bizarre mix of Tarzan and Snow White.

I exhaled sharply. "Then how did I end up with you and Mom?"

"You were crying, calling for your parents," he said, his voice a little softer. "Diane—she was a good woman. Kind. She spoke to you, just with her voice, and you stopped crying. When you did, the animals let us through. We took you in."

A lump formed in my throat, but I shoved it down. "Did you know I was the Fragment Bearer from the start?"

He sighed. "Diane wanted a child so badly. We adopted you because we loved you and we also wanted a child. We didn't know you were a Fragment Bearer—not at first. But the Faction leaders of Theos? They knew."

I clenched my jaw. "How long have you been a Theo?"

His laugh was hollow. "Since the day I was born."

His eyes were distant now, the arrogance fading into something heavier. Something worn-out.

"What about Mom?" I pressed. "Did she know? Was mom a Theo too?"

He shook his head. "Diane was just an ordinary person. She didn't know anything about this." Then he looked me straight in the eye. "If you plan to kill me, promise me one thing—don't hate Diane. For what it's worth, your mother loved you."

My stomach twisted.

Dammit. I didn't need this. I didn't need him making me feel anything right now.

But for all the lies and betrayal, one thing was clear—Diane Suis had been my mother. And she had loved me.

"I'm not going to kill you," I said, my voice firm. "You raised me. But let's not forget—you did try to kill me."

Ricardo chuckled, completely unfazed. "That wasn't a gun, kid. It was a tranquilizer. I was just going to knock you out and take you back."

I stared at him.

"...Excuse me, what?"

A tranquilizer gun?

"You're my son. Adopted or not," Ricardo said, his voice steady, his eyes eerily calm. "You belong with the Theos."

I leveled a stare at him. That nonsense again. He really believed I was some kind of chosen one, the key to the Theos rising or whatever cult-like prophecy he was clinging to.

"I won't let you disrupt the balance in Mythica," I said, my voice hard. "If that happens, the creatures will die."

Ricardo shook his head, almost pitying. "You still don't get it, son. Disrupting the balance won't kill them. It'll just return them to their original state. Their true nature. No intelligence. No thought. Just instinct." He leaned forward slightly. "They'll still be alive—just as animals."

My breath hitched. My mind reeled. No intelligence? No consciousness? Just… feral creatures?

He saw the hesitation flicker across my face and smirked. "You don't believe me? Then ask that dragon. He knows."