230 Bonds (1/2)

Many individuals were gathered in this commemoration.

Among those, there was Daren and Lilith, who were finally able to reunite after the man was possessed by a spirit and turned into a member of Mia's army.

Right now, he was simply enjoying being with the woman he loved and his only son, although he was still hit by surprise by all the recent news he received once he woke up, such as Lilith losing the ability to see and her letting go of her grudge towards Detra, as well as her adventure in Hana's garden and how the two started to let go of their differences to properly work together.

”Really...? East...?” Daren asked after being told that the woman he hated so much played such a big part in helping them achieve this victory.

”I know... I was shocked too...” Lilith admitted, ”but a lot of things happened and... well... I think I can finally move on from that unfortunate day that scared us all so much...”

Lilith couldn't see it but Daren's face was showing that he wasn't a big fan of the idea of letting go of his anger towards that woman.

He then raised his palms and began to caress Lilith's face, or rather, her closed eyes ”you lost your vision because you all entered this weird garden right? And going there was her idea, wasn't it??”

”Daren, please!!” Lilith begged, ”let's just stop this... Holding a grudge won't change things... I don't want to live with hate anymore... I know what she did, and I know how hard of a request it is but...”

Lilith then grabbed his hand and placed it over Lance who was sleeping in her arms.

”Can we just focus on working on our own happiness? Please?”

Daren looked at his kid and at the woman he loved. He still wasn't sure he could just let go of his hate, but he knew how much Lilith needed him now more than ever.

”Ok... If that's what you want... I won't object it...”

Lilith then grabbed his head and tried to bring it closer to hers, proceeded by giving him a gentle kiss, ”thank you! I love you!”

Daren gave her a hug and began to caress her hair, ”I love you too...”

”I'm sorry it took me losing my eyesight to finally give you a reply...”

”Don't worry... I'm just glad to be with you...”

From the other side of the room, Dia was keeping Ellie company while the two waited for Evlin to return with something to eat.

”She's taking so looooong...” Dia complained.

”I'm sure she will be back any minute now...” Ellie reassured.

”By the way...” Dia started to talk while gazing at the party and noticing how some kept looking at her and how others continued to cheer over Mia's defeat, ”what kind of person was Mia, exactly?”

Ellie began to shiver, ”uuhh... why do you want to know...?”

”Everyone just looks so happy over the fact that she is gone...” Dia commented while staring at her own hands, ”was she really that bad...?”

”...” Ellie wondered about how to approach this situation, ”I... I'm not sure what to say...”

”What did she do exactly...?”

”... she... well...” Ellie began to think about all the things Mia did to them. It was a big list, ”I'm sorry... I don't feel comfortable talking about this right now... Can we leave this for another time...? I'm really, really tired...”

”Oh... I see... Sure... We can talk later...”

Ellie noticed that her company wasn't looking very pleased with that answer. It's not that Ellie didn't want to talk to Dia, or explain what a terrible monster her past self was, she just didn't want to do that in the middle of the first break she had after nothing but one stressful day after another.

It seemed like Claire noticed her distress and decided to come to her aid, ”Hey Blue! How are you feeling?”

”Exhausted...” Ellie admitted, ”I just wanna go home and bury myself on my bed and never get up again...”

”I see...” Claire commented, followed by glancing at the girl next to her, ”what about you?”

”Me?” Dia said, ”I'm ok... I guess... Just a little confused...”

Claire kept staring at Dia, wondering if that really was the same evil red woman that was commanding an army of mages, diamond golems, and cursed creatures while sitting on a red throne made of diamonds.

But the more she looked, the more Dia seemed like nothing but a regular kid in her eyes.

”Uuhh... Can I... Help you or something...? You've been glaring at me for a while now...” Dia commented.

”Oh!! Sorry... My bad...”

The mood started to feel a little uncomfortable so Claire tried to switch the subject.

”By the way, Blue... Is it ok to touch you now?”

”I think so... Detra said that I'm completely empty of energy right now so I don't have any strength left to mirror anyone...” Ellie explained, ”but I'm probably gonna start wearing gloves for a while until I can control my mirror magic a little better...”

”You think you will be able to mirror my explosion magic one day?”

”Maybe... But not anytime soon...”

”Explosion magic...?” Dia asked.

”Oh! Right! You don't know how my magic works!” Claire said while smiling, seeing she had a chance to boast about her amazing powers.

Ellie then invited Claire to take a seat next to them and the three started to relax a little bit while discussing things like magic, school, and all the strange things they saw after entering this world.

Dia was a little cautious of Claire at first, but the more they kept talking, the more she started to lower her guard.