Collecting the spoils from clearing the Labyrinth and the dead Hydra, we quickly returned to Ghislaine’s village to see Zenith. Warning Paul that Zenith would not be the person he remembered, due to her Miko skill awakening, I assured him that I would take care of her status debuff. Looking at me with confusion, he was still confused about how being a could negatively impact her.
“What type of status debuff does give? I thought it was supposed to be one of those divine jobs with incredible power.”, Paul remarked, as we walked into Sauros’ mansion.
“Mortal races put Mikos on a pedestal because of their closeness to the gods, in reality, it is a curse. I have met several Mikos before and in every case, their lives are terrible. They have no freedom, they shoulder the blame whenever tragedies happen, and they are always watching their backs for assassins. As religious groups rarely get along, the high-ranking officials in each group are usually targeted for assassination.”, I told him, “You should be extremely careful about who you share this information with. The Millis Religion may try to take Zenith, Rudeus, and Norn from you at best, or kill everyone around Zenith and drag her away at worst.”
“Like hell they will!”, Paul snapped, slamming his fist into the wall next to us, “It will be a cold day in hell before I hand Zenith over to anyone!!”
“That is why you should not tell anyone outside our group about her being a . If none of us say anything, they will be none the wiser and never come looking for her.”, I advised.
“I will keep that in mind, I assume we are all in agreement not to talk about it?”, Paul inquired, looking back at his party.
Promising to take it to their graves, for Zenith’s sake, they assured him that no one would ever find out. Thanking them, even though it stung a bit, he turned his attention forward and picked up the pace. Rounding the bend toward where their rooms were, we found Aisha, Norn, and Rudeus standing outside Zenith’s Room.
“We managed to clear the Dungeon faster than expected, how is Zenith?”, Paul asked.
As we drew closer to them, Paul noticed that his children’s eyes were swollen red from crying. Unsure what to make of it, he nervously asked if something had happened.
“Did something happen to Zenith?”, Paul asked, visibly worried about her.
“Daddy!!”, Norn replied, turning to look at him with tears streaming down her face, “Something is wrong with Momma, she is ignoring us!! She…she woke up, but…but will not say anything to us!! I…I told her that I…I loved her, but…but she did not say anything…back!! Does Momma hate me now?! Did I do something wrong?!”
Kneeling to hug her, Norn jumped into his arms and began loudly crying. Pleading with her father to tell her what she did wrong, she was desperate to make her mother speak to her again. Promising to be a good girl, she went as far as to promise that she would not ask for toys or clothes anymore.
“Norn…”, Paul choked up, holding her tightly, “It…it will be alright, I promise. Your mother, she is just a bit unwell from what happened to her. Cole here will make her better, right Cole?”
Turning her attention toward me, Norn looked at me with the same eyes Eri had when I first met her.
“Absolutely, there is no one in this world with better magic than me. Your mother will be back to normal in no time!”, I assured Norn, “That said, I am going to need Aisha, Rudeus, and you to help me. I can make her better, but the three of you need to be the ones to wake her up.”
Agreeing to help me immediately, Rudeus immediately forced the door open so his sisters could run in. Announcing our arrival, Eris, Hilda, Lilia, and a few of Sauros’ maids greeted us. Relieved to see her husband alive and unharmed, Lilia hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. Thanking me for bringing him back alive, she turned her attention toward Lilia.
“She has been like this since she woke up.”, she stated, gripping her apron tightly, “We have tried everything we could to get a response from her, but she does not react to anything we do.”
Looking at Zenith, the color from Paul’s face drained as he looked at her gazed-over eyes. Grateful that I warned him, he bowed his head and asked me to heal his wife. Nodding my head in response, I motioned for the children to hold Zenith’s hands tightly. Doing as I asked, dozens of magic circles formed around Zenith and the children.
“What in the hell is this!?”, Tallhand gasped, dumbstruck by the complex circles and ancient scripts I was using, “I have never seen such advanced magic before!! Where in the hell did you learn all of this?!”
“In a previous life, I was a Sage and spent many decades delving into the Abyss of Magic.”, I explained, “Let me tell you…the most advanced spells of your world do not even begin to break the surface of what is possible. Bending the laws of nature, time, and space is child’s play with the right knowledge. The only restriction is your imagination and the depth of your understanding of the world around you.”
Activating the magic circles, I forcefully suppressed her powers and sealed them away forever. As the powers began fading away, Zenith’s eyes started to regain their color relieving Paul’s fears. Severing the magic once I was done, I told the children to begin shaking their mother to rouse her from her sleep.
“Momma, please wake up!!”, Norn sniffled, uncertain if what I had done worked, “I am sorry if I made you mad!! I…I promise to be a good girl from now on so please wake up!!”
“Yeah Mom…please…please wake up.”, Rudeus sniffled, “Aisha and Norn…they need you to wake up.”
“Norn…Rudeus…is that you?”, Zenith groaned, as her consciousness began to return a few moments later, “Why…why are you both crying?”
Looking over at Norn with a warm smile, Norn immediately jumped into her mother’s arms and began wailing loudly. Breaking down as well, Rudeus clung to his mother’s shirt hoping that this was not an illusion. Confused by what was going on, Zenith was about to ask why they were crying when she noticed that they were not in their home. Recognizing the room, she knew this was Sauros’ mansion but was unsure how she got there. Taking a moment to recall the last things she could remember, everything clicked in her mind all at once.
“Paul, how did we end up in the Capital!? What happened to our village?! How long have I been unconscious!?”, Zenith asked, pulling her two babies into her arms tightly.
“Dear, I will get you up to speed on everything.”, Paul assured her, walking over and kissing her on the lips, “I am…I am just so…so thankful you…you are alive..! You…you have no idea…I have not had a good night’s rest since that horrible day. The memories…the shame…the heartache…the guilt…all of it has been eating me alive.”
“Paul, what happened…?”, Zenith asked, witnessing her proud husband have a mental breakdown.
“I…I am so sorry!!!”, he screamed, falling to his knees, “I…I should have grabbed all four of you!! The only person I was able to protect was Norn!! I…I failed to protect Aisha, Lilia, Rudeus, and you!!”
Looking at him, his family began to realize the stress he had been under.
“I thought I would never see any of you again, and it ate me alive!!”, Paul cried, shaking and trembling violently, “I kept a brave face up for Norn, but my heart was broken. Lilia, the children, and you…all of you are irreplaceable to me…and I thought I had lost all of you. If I had…I could not continue living anymore…”
Feeling the sincerity and love in his words, his family pulled him into a hug and began crying together. Stepping out of the room to give them privacy, I told Hilda we would return tomorrow to speak with everyone.
“Oh, Mr. Bolt!!”, Eris called out, as we turned to leave, “Rudeus and I want to attend the academy in your capital, if that is okay.”
“Of course, I will bring the approval letters tomorrow.”, I promised, before promptly leaving to go see my own family.
Collecting the spoils from clearing the Labyrinth and the dead Hydra, we quickly returned to Ghislaine’s village to see Zenith. Warning Paul that Zenith would not be the person he remembered, due to her Miko skill awakening, I assured him that I would take care of her status debuff. Looking at me with confusion, he was still confused about how being a could negatively impact her.
“What type of status debuff does give? I thought it was supposed to be one of those divine jobs with incredible power.”, Paul remarked, as we walked into Sauros’ mansion.
“Mortal races put Mikos on a pedestal because of their closeness to the gods, in reality, it is a curse. I have met several Mikos before and in every case, their lives are terrible. They have no freedom, they shoulder the blame whenever tragedies happen, and they are always watching their backs for assassins. As religious groups rarely get along, the high-ranking officials in each group are usually targeted for assassination.”, I told him, “You should be extremely careful about who you share this information with. The Millis Religion may try to take Zenith, Rudeus, and Norn from you at best, or kill everyone around Zenith and drag her away at worst.”
“Like hell they will!”, Paul snapped, slamming his fist into the wall next to us, “It will be a cold day in hell before I hand Zenith over to anyone!!”
“That is why you should not tell anyone outside our group about her being a . If none of us say anything, they will be none the wiser and never come looking for her.”, I advised.
“I will keep that in mind, I assume we are all in agreement not to talk about it?”, Paul inquired, looking back at his party.
Promising to take it to their graves, for Zenith’s sake, they assured him that no one would ever find out. Thanking them, even though it stung a bit, he turned his attention forward and picked up the pace. Rounding the bend toward where their rooms were, we found Aisha, Norn, and Rudeus standing outside Zenith’s Room.
“We managed to clear the Dungeon faster than expected, how is Zenith?”, Paul asked.
As we drew closer to them, Paul noticed that his children’s eyes were swollen red from crying. Unsure what to make of it, he nervously asked if something had happened.
“Did something happen to Zenith?”, Paul asked, visibly worried about her.
“Daddy!!”, Norn replied, turning to look at him with tears streaming down her face, “Something is wrong with Momma, she is ignoring us!! She…she woke up, but…but will not say anything to us!! I…I told her that I…I loved her, but…but she did not say anything…back!! Does Momma hate me now?! Did I do something wrong?!”
Kneeling to hug her, Norn jumped into his arms and began loudly crying. Pleading with her father to tell her what she did wrong, she was desperate to make her mother speak to her again. Promising to be a good girl, she went as far as to promise that she would not ask for toys or clothes anymore.
“Norn…”, Paul choked up, holding her tightly, “It…it will be alright, I promise. Your mother, she is just a bit unwell from what happened to her. Cole here will make her better, right Cole?”
Turning her attention toward me, Norn looked at me with the same eyes Eri had when I first met her.
“Absolutely, there is no one in this world with better magic than me. Your mother will be back to normal in no time!”, I assured Norn, “That said, I am going to need Aisha, Rudeus, and you to help me. I can make her better, but the three of you need to be the ones to wake her up.”
Agreeing to help me immediately, Rudeus immediately forced the door open so his sisters could run in. Announcing our arrival, Eris, Hilda, Lilia, and a few of Sauros’ maids greeted us. Relieved to see her husband alive and unharmed, Lilia hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. Thanking me for bringing him back alive, she turned her attention toward Lilia.
“She has been like this since she woke up.”, she stated, gripping her apron tightly, “We have tried everything we could to get a response from her, but she does not react to anything we do.”
Looking at Zenith, the color from Paul’s face drained as he looked at her gazed-over eyes. Grateful that I warned him, he bowed his head and asked me to heal his wife. Nodding my head in response, I motioned for the children to hold Zenith’s hands tightly. Doing as I asked, dozens of magic circles formed around Zenith and the children.
“What in the hell is this!?”, Tallhand gasped, dumbstruck by the complex circles and ancient scripts I was using, “I have never seen such advanced magic before!! Where in the hell did you learn all of this?!”
“In a previous life, I was a Sage and spent many decades delving into the Abyss of Magic.”, I explained, “Let me tell you…the most advanced spells of your world do not even begin to break the surface of what is possible. Bending the laws of nature, time, and space is child’s play with the right knowledge. The only restriction is your imagination and the depth of your understanding of the world around you.”
Activating the magic circles, I forcefully suppressed her powers and sealed them away forever. As the powers began fading away, Zenith’s eyes started to regain their color relieving Paul’s fears. Severing the magic once I was done, I told the children to begin shaking their mother to rouse her from her sleep.
“Momma, please wake up!!”, Norn sniffled, uncertain if what I had done worked, “I am sorry if I made you mad!! I…I promise to be a good girl from now on so please wake up!!”
“Yeah Mom…please…please wake up.”, Rudeus sniffled, “Aisha and Norn…they need you to wake up.”
“Norn…Rudeus…is that you?”, Zenith groaned, as her consciousness began to return a few moments later, “Why…why are you both crying?”
Looking over at Norn with a warm smile, Norn immediately jumped into her mother’s arms and began wailing loudly. Breaking down as well, Rudeus clung to his mother’s shirt hoping that this was not an illusion. Confused by what was going on, Zenith was about to ask why they were crying when she noticed that they were not in their home. Recognizing the room, she knew this was Sauros’ mansion but was unsure how she got there. Taking a moment to recall the last things she could remember, everything clicked in her mind all at once.
“Paul, how did we end up in the Capital!? What happened to our village?! How long have I been unconscious!?”, Zenith asked, pulling her two babies into her arms tightly.
“Dear, I will get you up to speed on everything.”, Paul assured her, walking over and kissing her on the lips, “I am…I am just so…so thankful you…you are alive..! You…you have no idea…I have not had a good night’s rest since that horrible day. The memories…the shame…the heartache…the guilt…all of it has been eating me alive.”
“Paul, what happened…?”, Zenith asked, witnessing her proud husband have a mental breakdown.
“I…I am so sorry!!!”, he screamed, falling to his knees, “I…I should have grabbed all four of you!! The only person I was able to protect was Norn!! I…I failed to protect Aisha, Lilia, Rudeus, and you!!”
Looking at him, his family began to realize the stress he had been under.
“I thought I would never see any of you again, and it ate me alive!!”, Paul cried, shaking and trembling violently, “I kept a brave face up for Norn, but my heart was broken. Lilia, the children, and you…all of you are irreplaceable to me…and I thought I had lost all of you. If I had…I could not continue living anymore…”
Feeling the sincerity and love in his words, his family pulled him into a hug and began crying together. Stepping out of the room to give them privacy, I told Hilda we would return tomorrow to speak with everyone.
“Oh, Mr. Bolt!!”, Eris called out, as we turned to leave, “Rudeus and I want to attend the academy in your capital, if that is okay.”
“Of course, I will bring the approval letters tomorrow.”, I promised, before promptly leaving to go see my own family.
