164 Do your best! (1/2)

Part 1

Ellie was mentally preparing herself to enter Hana's lost garden.

She was feeling a little worried after hearing Detra's comment about so many different dangerous spells being placed all over the area, but she assumed that such a rich variety would help her be ready for anything.

She kept staring at the forest and silently telling herself that she could not fail for her aunt, her parents, her grandmother, as well as the entire city that Mia kidnapped, all depended on her. The pressure was big, but she had no intention of backing down.

Ellie needed to overcome this challenge no matter what.

As she kept losing herself in remembering what she was fighting for, someone taped her on the shoulder and called her attention, but Ellie was so concentrated on the sea of trees in front of her that she almost forgot that other people had come along with her on this trip.

”Hey... Are you ok?” asked a young girl with chestnut skin, curly hair, and carrying a baby on her left arm.

”Oh! Yeah... Yeah... I'm fine... No worries Claire..” Ellie responded. She was so sucked in into her goals that she didn't even took some time to realize that she and her best friend were on the fantasy world she always heard so much about. This was literally one of her greatest dream come true, but now for some reason, it just felt like a minor thought.

Claire looked at Ellie's expression and realized that the girl's mind seemed to be drifting somewhere else.

”You sure...? You seem kinda lost...” Claire asked again.

”Yeah... I'm sure... I'm just... I bit too excited... That's all...” Ellie reassured.

”... They were saying that you would have to go do some kind of battle... Aren't you scared...?”

Scared. Ellie wondered about that for a moment. When she stopped to think about what she was going to do, enter one extremely dangerous forest in order to prepare for her rematch with Mia, the same Mia that completely trashed her, Lilith, Marcus, and Leona without breaking a sweat, as well as the same Mia who was on her way to unlock the six sleeping demons imprisoned by Detra, she realized that she probably should be terrified right now considering how much she had to lose should she end up failing.

But it seemed like her aunt's advice for keeping things simple had really grown on her. She had completely eliminated all the details and had only one focus in mind, get stronger and win.

With that focus in mind, Ellie felt like nothing else mattered right now, so even if she did felt fear by this point, she couldn't afford to express it or it would just get in the way of her objective.

”A little bit... But... I feel there are more important things than my own fear right now...” Ellie finally responded.

”More important things...?”

”You two said your goodbyes already?” Lilith asked as she approached the two.

”We were just about to...” Claire responded. She then gave Ellie a big hug which surprised her, ”Good luck in there, Blue.”

Ellie then hugged Claire back after realizing her friend was just trying to comfort her, ”You too, Amber!”

Ellie then distanced herself from Claire and moved towards the entrance where Detra was waiting. Lilith then looked at the curly-haired girl with confusion.

”Blue? Amber?” She asked.

”They are our nicknames... Based on our eye colors” Claire explained.

”I see...”

Lilith then grabbed Lance for a moment and gave him a big hug as well.

”I hope I can learn how to properly treat children when you are older...” she whispered to her son who just looked at her and began to giggle.

”Something wrong...?” Claire wondered.

”Nothing... I'm just having a hard time connecting with Ellie right now... I was never really good at talking with people like Evlin or Daren... These two would always just bluntly say what was on their mind...”

Lilith then handed over her baby to Claire again after kissing him in the forehead.

”Please take care of him for me... He means the world to me!”

”I will! I'm used to dealing with young kids.”

”Yeah, I know... Your mother told me.”

”She... She did?”

”She talked a lot about you while we were searching for Evlin... She was really worried about you...”

Claire then began to look down. Lilith could sense that she was about to tear up after being reminded of her mother. Lilith wanted to slap herself for not noticing how delicate of a subject Chloe's fate was right now. As always, Lilith had a hard time paying attention to her surroundings.

”Hey...” Lilith whispered while gently lifting Claire's chin, ”Everything will be fine! We will bring your mother and everyone else back before you notice it!”

Claire stared at Lilith for a moment and tried to resist the urge to cry, ”Tha- Thanks!”

Lilith then bid her farewells as well and marched towards the entrance to stay by Ellie's side.

”Hey, Lilith!” Claire said before she continued, ”I think you will be a great mother! Lance is very lucky to have you!”

Lilith released a wide smile from hearing that comment and returned to her path now with more confidence.

Marcus was also saying his farewells to Leona and wishing their luck on their mission of training Claire and Joseph, but it seemed like someone was still trying to give trouble.

”Why the hell do I have to do this!!??” yelled the tiny frog with a top hat and a bowtie.

Xadi was on top of Joseph's head who had asked him to move closer to Detra so he could yell at her. He was trying to escape from his duty as the professor for the two kids.