273 Family (1/2)
”Where the hell have you been!???” Ria shouted while glaring at Ashley, ”I was worried sick!!”
She was standing in the spot they were before while using her cloak as a bag to hold a large number of fruits she picked up in the forest.
Ashley just appeared out of nowhere with Lilith sleeping in her bag, Marcus in his weapon form in the shape of a necklace around her neck, and Marcia resting in her arm.
”We had a little bit of trouble... Sorry...” Ashley admitted, ”Marcia suddenly disappeared and I went out to search for her...”
”What!!? She did!? How could she disappear without you even noticing??” Ria asked.
”I... I wasn't paying attention... S- Sorry...”
”She is a baby, Ash!! You ALWAYS need to pay attention!! Also, why didn't you use your speed to fetch me? You didn't need to carry Lilith with you if you had just asked for my help!”
”I... I wasn't thinking properly... I didn't want to make you angry... Sorry...”
”Not thinking properly!? You're our team's strategist!! Your job is to think properly!! What the hell were- Oh...”
Ria was about to continue with her lecturing but she noticed that Ashley was looking rather exhausted with heavy bags under her eyes, sweat dripping from her face, her entire body trembling, and a bleeding nose.
”What happened to you...?” Ria asked.
Ashley finally gave Ria her daughter back and dropped on the ground after feeling the backlash of using Marcus so much during her fight.
”We encountered one of Knucker's demons... And she asked me to fight her...”
”What!!?? Knucker's demons?? They're here??” Ria gasped while starting to sweat as well.
”One is... At least...”
”And you faced her alone??”
”No... I used Marcus...” Ashley admitted while pointing at the blade she dropped on the grass, ”He still can't turn back to his human form though...”
Ria began to take a deep breath, ”I- I see... Sorry... I guess I got a tad too worried up... It's just...”
Ashley tried to smile at her friend, ”It's okay... You were just worried about Cia, I get it... You don't have to apologize for caring about a loved one...”
”Right... Still... I'm glad you guys are fine...”
”I don't think we were ever in danger, to be honest... I think this was just some kind of test...”
”A test...?” Ria repeated with a raised eyebrow, ”A test for what...?”
Part 2
Auren was noticing that Evlin had gotten strangely quiet all of sudden after getting in contact with Ellie through her telepathic link.
The two were still riding on top of the griffin they acquired from the hidden city of beast mages and were on their way to reunite with their friends on the island of the temple of the north.
”Evlin...?” Auren whispered while tapping her shoulder, ”Everything okay?”
”Just remember... If you need to talk, I'm here for you...”
”Thank you, doctor Auren!” Evlin replied with a smirk, ”But I'm kinda sick of talking about me and my problems all the time... Instead... How about we hear a bit about you?”
”Me...? What about me...?”
”You know... Things... How did you grow up? How is your family like? What do you do for fun?”
Auren crossed his arms and began to ponder, ”Let's see... There isn't much to say... I'm not really that interesting of a guy... At least not when compared to someone who traveled to another world...”
”Come on man... You are someone that can rewind time, you're married to a woman that can open portals in the middle of the air, you worked for a guy that could turn his body into a sword, and you traveled all over the world with a bunch of weirdos while fighting demons... How can that not be interesting?” Evlin commented, ”Plus, you're bald! all bald people are cool!”
”If you say so...”
Auren noticed that they still had a long way to go before they reached their destination, thus he decided to give up and began to share a bit about himself.
”Well... I guess I should start with my family... You might not believe me but my mother probably looks younger than you right now...”
Evlin's face completely froze as she tried to process what she had just heard, ”Excuse me...?”
”Oh... No... I'm not calling you old or anything! It's just that... My mother seems to have stopped aging due to my power... When I was a baby she would stay with me all the time, and since I couldn't control my power back then, I would often make her get younger and younger just by being held in her arms...”
”Wait...” Evlin gasped, ”Wait, wait, wait, wait... You had your powers ever since you were a baby!!??”
”I know right?” Auren laughed, ”My parents never bothered hiring a babysitter because my mother loved spending time with me and getting her body to rejuvenate! It took a while for her to finally stop following me around all the time...”
”Ah... Clingy mom... I know the feeling...”
”Yeah... But because of that... My brother would often get upset with me and bully me in secret... ”
”Ah... Getting bullied by your siblings... I know the feeling...”
”What was worse was that my father was a famous knight so all my brothers tried to follow in his footsteps by doing a lot of muscle training... So their bullying tended to be much harsher than most... The only way I found to survive was to train as well and get even stronger, but because of that, people would often think that I was some kind of brute who enjoyed picking fights...”
”Ah... Being misinterpreted because of the life-choices you made in order to survive... I know the feeling... You sure we are not siblings as well?”
Auren just laughed at that comment and continued to share about himself. He didn't really found his own story that engaging, but Evlin seemed to be having fun so felt like continuing. She was such a fun audience that it motivated him to talk even more.
The two continued with that for a little longer until they finally reached the north island, a small piece of land surrounded by water in every direction the eye could see, making it look rather isolated from the rest of the world.
”That's where the temple of the north is located??”
”West told us that one of the north gods from ancient times hated interacting with humans... So he destroyed all the land around his church to make it near-impossible for anyone to reach him... He stated that only someone capable of surpassing this challenge was worthy of being his champion...”
”... Sounds like a fun guy...” Evlin sarcastically commented, ”Let's find our friends!”
Part 3
Ellie spotted the griffin getting closer to the island with two people on its back waving at her and her group and immediately rushed to get closer to it.
”Aunt Evieeeee!!!!” the girl shouted while jumping up and down with joy at the sight of her beloved aunt.
”Ellie!!! Oh, man!! I missed you so m- PUAAAGHH!!” Evlin cried as her niece pounced on her like a panther and locked the woman in a bear hug that squeezed all the air from her lungs.
”Aunt Evie!!!! I missed you so, so, SO MUCH!!!!”
”Air... Air... Ellie... Please... Air!!”
”Oh! Sorry!”
”You must be the niece I heard so much about!” Auren commented while finally getting to meet Ellie for the first time.