Chapter 76: The Guardian Angel (1/2)

Not giving any space, Number 3 looked sternly at the apparition in front of them, and with a decisive tone, she asked.

”Who are you exactly? What did you do to Aiden?! Speak up!”

A burst of melodic, bell-like laughter resounded all around them in response. Shortly after, they once again heard her mature voice in their minds.

[My name is Enya, and you can think of me as… hmm… let's just say, guardian angel. His wellbeing was and will always be my only concern. As for what I did…]

The figure walked next to Number 3. Placing her hand on her right shoulder, she leaned closer to her ears and whispered. This time, only Number 3 heard her voice.

[I did nothing. It's you who caused all of this, but I think you already know this.]

Then, before, Number 3 could react, she walked back, standing a few steps away from their group. Facing all of them once again, they could hear her voice inside their minds.

[Just so you all could understand, I will use simple terms. Aiden is currently in a deep sleep and will stay in that for at least a week. His reserves have to regenerate naturally. During the battle against the Nightmare…]

At this point although they couldn't make out any features on the swirling energy that served as her head, they were sure that it turned to face Number 3 as she continued.

[...he went through a sort of forced evolution, putting tremendous pressure on his soul. We were lucky it wasn't badly damaged, but the backlash caused too much pain for him to handle, and because of that, I had to put him to this state immediately.]

Then she faced them all again, as she continued.

[I had to sacrifice a lot to be able to appear in front of you, but I chose to do so, as you 3 are the only ones he considers family in this world, and he wouldn't want to keep you all in the dark.

As she finished, they noticed as her body began to slowly dissolve around its edges. Seeing this, the apparition spoke again.

[It seems, I can't keep up my form here any longer. One last thing before I leave: The potion you are planning to make, will help him, although not in the way you are expecting. It will strengthen his soul, so such situations could be avoided in the future.]

As her body began to dissolve, even more, she looked at Lily.

[Little Lily, it will be quite a while, but we will meet again eventually. You don't know it yet, but you also have incredible potential. Continue doing your best!]

Finished, she turned around, not waiting for any response from them, she stepped into the white gate. Shortly after the white portal closed and vanished from sight as if it wasn't even there to begin with.

While Lily had a resolute look on her face and was tightly clenching her fists, Number 3 and Granny was still trying to process everything that just happened.

”Guardian Angel, huh? Interesting…” muttered Number 3 to herself after a while. Then, she turned to face the others and spoke.

”Okay, I think we had more than enough action for one day. Let's rest on this and discuss it in the morning. Good Night ladies!”

With that, she simply walked out of the room, heading towards hers. She had to process everything alone. The apparition was right, she knew she was the one that forced the kids to take on this adventure, and train themselves in that harsh world that was created by his Grandmaster.

She knew it wasn't fair to throw them in and expect them to overcome all the challenges. Granny and she made sure to tune the trials in a way that would fit them better, but the last trial, she wanted it to stay true to the original idea and be a harsh lesson for both. This world is cruel and unforgiving, and unless they are prepared to face this reality, they would only suffer.

Still, she could have intervened much earlier, and pulled out both of them. Facing that otherworldly monster… alone, without any knowledge about it… She can only blame herself for this mistake.

As she sat down on her bed, she looked out at the window, gazing at the clear night sky. While there were no tears in her eyes, her voice cracked and was clear she was struggling as she whispered her grief into the night.

”I'm sorry…”

Meanwhile, Granny after wishing ”Good Night” to Lily, also left the room, heading for hers to think about everything that played out. The potion the apparition mentioned, what they planned to make with Number 3 to give to Aiden… It was surprising that she knew about it.