The Zookeeper 2: The Past and The Present

Ch. 8: Second Home

"H-Hi, dad. And yes, I am Amity." Amity said, a little nervous.

Alador had to lean against a wall. This girl was well into adulthood, but he will be damned if he didn't recognize his own daughter. He remembered those eyes, he vowed that he would see her again.

"I... I don't believe it." Alador said, "W... where have you been?"

"I... spent the past 21 years in the Human World, with no memory apart from my name." Amity said.

"21 years? It's...It's even longer than I thought it was." Alador said as he slowly walked to Amity. "But look at you, you've grown into a fine woman. I've missed so much of your life." Alador looked at Amity's engagement ring, "Please... tell me I haven't missed your wedding yet."

Amity smiled a bit at his worry, almost like it was familiar to her.

"No, you didn't. We're still planning." Amity said.

"Oh, thank Titan." Alador said before gesturing to the inside. "Why don't we head inside and talk some more? I can have an abomination fetch some refreshments."

"Uh... will I be able to eat the stuff here?" Amity asked, "I've eaten human food for over twenty years."

"We can try." Alador said.

"As long as it doesn't have meat, I'll do my best." Amity said.

"Yeah, she's a vegetarian." Eda said with a groan as she walked into the mansion.

Amity walked inside, looking at the paintings on the walls. There was one, Alador with two other kids, while holding a baby in his arms, but that wasn't what got her attention, it was what was on the shelf below it that surprised her.

"Is that... Odalia's ashes?" Amity asked.

"Yes, h-h-how do you know about that?" Alador asked, "Eda never explained, she just dropped the urn off."

Amity looked to Eda as she walked into the kitchen of the mansion.

"She.....tried to bring me back a couple of months ago. She kidnapped me and tried to convince me that my life there was a waste." Amity said to Alador.

"That doesn't surprise me." Alador said, "Ever since I divorced her, she's fallen down a pit that I didn't think she would get out of."

"So... why keep her ashes?" Amity asked.

"To her, our marriage was loveless, but while she might not have loved me, I loved her, even if she was crazy, a part of me will always love her." Alador said, "I cannot bring myself to getting rid of her ashes."

Amity looked down, she wonders how different things might've been if she was here and not in the Human World.

"But that's beside the point." Alador said, "I think it's time for the twins to see their long-lost sister."

"Twins? They're still living here?" Amity asked him.

"Yes. After you vanished and the divorce, they didn't want to leave me alone in this big house." Alador said to her.

"They blamed themselves for you disappearing." Alador said, "What I was told, was there was a loose monster and they said to hide... I... I thought you were killed."

"So... an animal here is what led to me ending up in the Human World?" Amity said, "That's... kind of Ironic."

"Ironic how?" Alador asked.

"She works at a zoo in the human world. One with giraffes!" Eda said as she came from the kitchen, holding a bottle of wine and a glass. "In fact, she's in charge of the giraffes."