Agate returned to his apartment, and was met by his excited adopted daughter, Cinder Necklace. She loved him almost as much as she would a real father.

In a twist of fate, Edward had ended up giving him a second chance, though not in the way he expected.

His thoughts occupied him as he cooked some soup for Cinder, as she talked to him about how good her day was, about how much things seemed to look up. He was jerked to reality when she showed him a four leaf clover.

"I don't know if you know, but I heard they're rare, and I found one." She said, happy and impatient for a response.

Agate examined it, turning momentarily from the soup. "Wow. That's impressive. I guess it's one of a kind."

"What are you cooking?"

"Something good."

Knock knock!

"Hold on." He opens the door only to be greeted by someone in a cloak. It was a good friend. Or it sounded like him. He usually sounded gruff and confident. But he sounded different now. Tired and demoralized. The only real problem was that he was supposed to be dead, yet here he was. Agate wasn't sure.

"Agate, because I have some respect for you, I'm telling you now to stay out of my way this once. This city needs only one superhero, and I don't want you getting hurt. I've got plans, and I want them executed quickly."

"What are they?" Agate asked. The cloaked figure just snapped his fingers and smoke engulfed him before he apparently disappeared.
Agate chalked it up to a hallucination and went back to cooking. The soup was nearly done. Agate didn't know whether or not one could burn soup, but he wasn't interested in finding out. He closed the door and spent the last few minutes of waiting starting the dishwasher and then put some soup in a clean bowl for her.

"Thank you!" She said, hugging him.

"You're welcome, Cinder, You're welcome." The smell of soup filled the house, but with it came the frustrating task of cleaning up after. While Cinder happily ate her soup, Agate grabbed the cutting board and held it just below the counter to catch what was still not wiped off the counter. He went over to the trash can. His thoughts were racing through his head.

Soshi had last been seen entering the forest, following what he said was a lead for sure. Nobody had heard from him. All they knew was that he'd resigned from the military after receiving what he said was some really bad news, though he never said what it was.

There was news from a month and a half ago that a coal factory set on fire and burned down a decent portion of Yoyle City. Strangely, it had been only two days after that when he went into the forest, and presumably died.