Esme's father didn't answer immediately. Instead, he walked to the side, his steps slow, almost burdened. Then, without a word, he opened a small wooden drawer built into the wall and pulled out a folded, worn cloth—wrapped tightly, like it had been untouched for years.
He walked back and laid it gently on the table. The silence thickened as he unwrapped it, revealing an old metal pendant—shaped like a crescent moon with a small crack through the center—and a paper so yellowed with time it looked like it would disintegrate if touched wrong.
"That's the last thing Robin left behind," he said quietly. "It's a mark… of defiance."
Ray stared at the pendant, something about it digging into his memory—like a whisper from a dream he didn't know he had.
"What do you mean?"
"He left the organization, Ray. Not long after your birth. He faked his death in a mission, burned his own file, and disappeared. No one knows where he went. Not even me."
Ray blinked.
"He what…?"
