Bab 105: Wounds from the Past
Wrapped in Ophi's cozy embrace, Sian caressed her cheeks as he brought his face closer to hers.
"Ahem!"
Interrupting the two's moment, Illianna said, "This is no time for that."
"Sorry," Ophi said with an embarrassed look.
In an attempt to divert attention away from himself, Sian turned to the younger Ophilia.
"Well, since you and Ophi have the same name, what should I call you?"
As she still seemed nervous to speak normally to Sian, Milka interjected, "We call her Fifi."
"Fifi?"
Sian inadvertently remembered the role-play he had with Ophi.
"Yeah," Milka replied, "Is there something wrong with that?"
"No, no, nothing," he said hurriedly. "I was just thinking I've heard this name before."
"Of course you heard it before, we always called her Fifi," Milka said.
"Right, that must be it." Turning to Fifi, Sian said, "From now on, I will also call you Fifi."
"Did you see that?" Looking proud, Milka sat next to Fifi on the couch and hugged her. "I told you that master is not as scary as he looks. It's just a matter of time before you get used to it like Lin and Beth."
Despite Milka's words, Fifi still looked uncomfortable and kept her head down.
Going to her, Illianna brought her hand to her chin and lifted her face.
"You don't have to be so reserved, he is your sister's husband, which makes him your brother-in-law. As you saw, he's completely fallen for her, so he won't do anything that will make her sad. As long as she's close by, you can even punch his head in like I did and nothing will happen."
"I can hear that," Sian said.
"I didn't mean to hide it," Illianna retorted. "If she knows that you are harmless around Ophilia, that might help you two get along and have a fresh start. Or could it be that you don't want that?"
Although Sian wanted to express his dissatisfactions, he chose to keep quiet and just let it ride.
"That's right," Milka agreed. "This is a good opportunity for you guys to start from scratch and become friends."
"I agree, I think Sian should start by showing some sincerity and apologize," Lin added.
"Apologies? For what?" Sian asked.
"Since you are the one to blame for scaring her, it's the least you should do," Illianna replied.
"But-"
"No buts!" Illianna interrupted him. "Show Ophilia that you are not the same violent man as before."
Turning her gaze to Ophi, who was standing next to him, Sian noticed that although she hadn't said anything, she looked expectant. She probably wanted both her husband and her younger sister to get along.
Even though he felt there was no reason to apologize, if it was for Ophi's sake, he was willing to do it.
"Okay, fine, I'll do it your way."
"Ahem!" Clearing his throat, Sian turned to Fifi and said, "my bad."
"You call that an apology?" Illianna sneered. "Try again."
"Sorry for scaring you."
"It's still not enough and since you are having a fresh start, you should also come forward."
"Fifi, sorry for scaring you, that won't happen anymore. You can call me Sian."
"Well, that's not the best apology I've heard, but coming from you, it'll do," Lin said.
"Do you forgive him, Fifi?" Milka asked.
"Y-yes," she said softly.
"Don't be shy." Making her stand, Milka led her closer to Sian. "It's your turn to introduce yourself."
"Y-You can call me whatever you want! I-I hope we can get along well!"
When she finished her presentation, Fifi bowed hastily.
Seeing her back and Sian noticed something curious.
"Don't you have a tail?"
"It was taken from her," Lin replied.
"By taken, do you mean cut off?" Sian asked.
"When she was captured, Fifi's ears and tail were cut off, so she is always wearing a cap," Milka said.
"Can I see your ears?"
Responding to Sian's request, even though she was nervous, Fifi took off her cap. Just as Milka said, she no longer had the characteristic ears of her race as Ophi. Where they should have been, there were only two holes leading to her eardrums.
"Can I see your tail?"
"Hey, don't be rude!"
Illianna intervened in Sian's request, but Fifi didn't seem to mind.
Standing with her back to Sian, she slightly lifted her blouse and lowered her skirt a little. In the place where her tail should have been, there was a scar. From the shape, the perpetrators had gone to great lengths to cut off her tail at the base.
Considering that she is fifteen and has been under Milka's care for four years, this means that she was captured when she was eleven. Although she was only a child at the time, Sian knew very well that despite being a child, she would not be spared the cruelty of the world.
With tears filling her eyes, Ophi muttered, "That's so cruel..."
Although cruel, ripping out the features of a beastkin was not an uncommon thing to happen. Due to ingrained prejudice, some people do this as a way to humiliate them.
"I have something that can fix that."
Moving closer, Illianna pulled a vial of bright scarlet-red liquid from her inventory.
"That is an elixir that can restore lost limbs."
Just by looking at the bottle in her hands, Sian knew that what she said was true and that it was even better than she could have imagined.
For her to have something so precious with her, she probably earned it when she reincarnated.
Since Sian didn't want her to spend something so valuable for something simple, he pushed her hand away.
"It's okay," he said. "Save it for when it's really necessary, I can take care of it."
"Are you sure?" Illianna looked in doubt. "Even if you are powerful, the effectiveness of this potion is guaranteed."
Interjecting, Milka said, "When master puts his mind to it, he can even revive a person. Healing a lost limb is a piece of cake."
"Let's start now." Bringing his gaze to Fifi's tail scar, Sian continued, "Don't cover it yet."
Although nervous, she nodded.
Concentrating, Sian gathered fire magic in his hands.
Although usually this kind of magic was used for attack, the flames that Sian was using were the flames of the phoenix. Because of the blessing he received from Teshar, he was able to use her flames freely, whether they were for healing or attack.
Light magic also has the ability to regenerate limbs, but phoenix flames were on another level. Because of the patient was Ophi's little sister, Sian was willing to do his best.
"Close your eyes and relax. It won't hurt a bit."
Before Ophi's nervous gaze, a ball of warm fire formed in Sian's palm. With a little push, the ball quickly made contact with Fifi's body and was absorbed by her.
In the same instant, her whole body was surrounded by an aura of fire and under everyone's gaze, the phoenix flames showed their power.
A new tail began to grow while being enveloped by brown hair. But it wasn't just the tail, the same happened to her ears.
"Fast like that?!"
Illianna's confusion was understandable, since it didn't take even five seconds for everything to happen.
"Well, it was nothing really serious, so it was quick," Sian said.
Sharing the same confusion as Illianna, Fifi also looked incredulous.
"Come on, try swinging your tail," Milka said cheerfully.
Being encouraged, Fifi tried her best. Amidst everyone's spectating silence, she slowly moved her tail and then did the same with her ears.
"I-I can move them!"
Despite her trembling voice, Sian knew that this time it was not out of fear of him.
"That's great!"
Sharing in the joy, Ophi gave her sister a firm hug.
In general, no matter what kind of magic is used, even if a severed limb can be regenerated, it will usually come back weaker and need to be trained again. But there are some exceptions that can bring the limb back fully.
Some of these are elixirs like the ones Illianna showed, and strong magics like the phoenix flames.
In Fifi's case, although her movements seem sluggish, she is certainly back to 100%. All she needs is to get used to her body again.
Turning to Milka, Sian asked, "Why didn't you tell me about this before? I may not care about others, but if it was you asking me, I would have healed her sooner."
"I had that intention, but she was too afraid of you," Milka replied. "And because the scars had already closed, she preferred to continue that way for fear of suffering more."
"All right, that doesn't matter anymore," Sian said. "Since this is a joyous occasion, tonight we'll have a feast to celebrate."
Jumping on Sian, Milka said, "I support your decision, master!"
Leaving Ophi to spend more time with her sister, Sian went to see Emily who was with Beth and Milka went to tell the other girls the news.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone