Chương 61: Chapter 29 - Second Home
An hour passed before Lilly was ready to talk about everything that happened. While they all lay in the bed, staring at the ceiling shoulder to shoulder, she started to explain.
"Grandfather started confronting me during the lesson, talking about how he knew about our plan to take him out in a week. He told me he just planned to leave Eldoria and start over somewhere else since Myndia would hunt him at some point here."
Lilly stopped briefly to think of how nice it would be for him to just leave.
"But something happened to make him attack?" Mia asked, curious about the events.
"Yeah, my amulet started heating up while he was preparing to leave, and Myndia took control of my flames to attack him. I tried to make her stop, but…"
"What a selfish thing to do! Figures her lust for revenge would cause problems…"
"... I didn't think she would go that far, or that she could take control of the flames like that. She shouted an old name of his, I think, which sounded similar to yours, Elly."
Eolande sounded surprised. "Oh, really? That's ominous. What was it?"
"Eolanathel," Lilly replied.
"Ah… He might be my father, then."
"What?!" Lilly and Mia yelled in surprise, both turning to look at Eoalnde.
"Yeah, probably. We elves traditionally name our kids with parts of our own names, and there aren't a lot of us in Eldoria. I always felt like my brother and I got some extra attention from him, but I thought it was due to talent…" She seemed to be reminiscing, diving into old memories of the past.
"I… I'm sorry, Elly," Lilly replied, feeling sad on Eolande's behalf.
Eolande waved her arm like it was no big deal. "Don't be; it's not like I cared about him anymore. None of us had parents anyhow."
"Well, I'm sorry about that as well. Everyone should have parents that love them…" Even after Lilly thought they were all spent, a few more tears managed to form in her eyes.
She quickly wiped them, ready to continue her retelling. "After that, Myndia attacked him. She managed to take an arm, but he suddenly disappeared from the ball of fire she surrounded him with. I started panicking, telling her to go after him, but she said she had used all her power somehow. And so I used the staff to fly."
"... Did you get to see him before…" Mia said softly, unable to finish the sentence.
"Yeah, I…" Lilly stopped, feeling the memories still twisting her insides. "I did."
Mia put her hand on Lilly's cheek, stroking it softly. "I'm glad."
Lilly nodded lightly, skipping that part for now. "After that, I got a bit angry. I don't remember much before I was floating in the air above the city, searching my mind for a way to find him. I have no idea how I changed into that bird thing, though. Nothing I know of magic should be able to do that, unless it's related to the divine part of the flame somehow."
"Well, you do descend from the divine phoenix as well. It might be a more primitive part of your body, helped along by the flame," Eolande suggested.
"Maybe," Lilly responded, putting that mystery to the side for now. "In any case, I figured I could spread my flame to find an area where it was drained by a powerful artifact to find him. That worked like a charm, so I started chasing."
"That's clever! Using the flame as a sensor for magic drain across a large area, that's some quick thinking," Eolande responded, impressed.
"Yeah, well… He managed to use it against me, so I think I relied a bit too much on it. After we left the city I eventually managed to catch up to him. I planned to hurl myself into him and let brute force and heat do the work, but he avoided me at the last second with his teleportation again. So another chase started and that time he managed to duck below me at the last moment, avoiding most of the force."
"Sounds like a slippery bastard. Then what happened?" Mia asked with obvious nervousness.
'Oh, right, we didn't tell Mia how it ended,' Lilly realized, feeling silly for having forgotten.
"After that collision, I used the drain to start chasing again, but this time he was faster than before. I eventually reached him, but then I realized I was just chasing the thing he used to teleport. He really got me there, and I thought I had lost him. But I went back, looking for tracks leaving the spot where I saw him last. I saw tracks, but they were moving towards the city, so I had to consider the possibility of him moving in that direction."
Mia was clearly following the story intently, changing her expression with every new revelation. "What did you end up doing?"
"Nothing. I suddenly spotted a light high up above the city, which confused me a lot. But before I could think of any explanations, the light shot forward, heading in my direction. It passed me by a few hundred meters and landed on the ground near the spot where I saw him last. He came rolling up from the ground, getting his hiding spot revealed by the arrow."
"Selene!" Mia shouted with wide eyes, having realized what the light was. "She was on the Skyview Restaurant?"
"Yeah, she had seen him hide, I guess, and wanted to show me. I really think she's the greatest archer in Eldoria. After that, he slowed down and readied himself for a final confrontation. I didn't care about defending and just rammed ahead, full speed."
Protests came from both sides right after she finished. "You can't be that reckless!" from Eolande and a simple "Lilly!" from Mia.
"Yeah, I know, I wasn't thinking quite clearly. But I needed to take him out, for all our sakes. He pierced me slightly with a spear, but I did enough damage to end him. After that, he told me not to destroy Eldoria and to give Elly his spatial ring. And some stuff about shadows and moonlight right at the end."
Mia breathed a sigh of relief while Eolande seemed thoughtful. "That sounds like the password to our clan. Why would he say that at the end?"
Lilly considered the question but didn't have any good answers. "Maybe he just wanted a poetic end?"
"Maybe…" Eolande said, still deep in thought. She rose from the bed, ready to head out. "I'll go tell Selene what happened. She's taken the role of making decisions in your absence and will want to know how to proceed. You just rest as long as you want, both of you."
"Thanks, Elly. I won't be long. Oh, do you have any clothes I can borrow?" Lilly asked, realizing that her own wardrobe had shrunk substantially since this morning.
"Hmm, nothing that will fit perfectly, but feel free to use whatever you find in that closet over there." She gestured to a closet close to the door, before opening it and leaving.
"... Is the house completely gone?" Lilly asked, with low hopes.
"No, some of it is standing. They managed to put the fire out pretty soon after you left, but a lot of damage had been done at that point. I think they're securing it before searching anything."
"... I don't think there's much left to bury. I was right next to him…"
"He wouldn't mind," Mia gently added, taking Lilly's hand in her own.
Lilly squeezed her hand and stroked it with her thumb. "Gramps said he wished he could see my children, but other than that, he seemed excited about seeing Grandma and Mom again. He… he went out with a smile, at least."
"That sounds like him. It's a shame about the kids, but he'll meet them eventually…" She started smiling while looking at the ceiling. "It's nice, thinking of him in the afterlife, meeting everyone he's missed for so long. They might even be having a party! And you'll hear from him through your mom, so it's not the last time."
Lilly enjoyed the thought as well. Gramps was likely as happy as he's ever been right now, somewhere far away. "Yeah, that's true. This really is an amazing power."
Mia seemed nervous for some reason. "A… about kids, though."
Lilly looked at her curiously, feeling some nerves rising. "Yeah?"
"Do… how far do you think we are from it?"
"Oh… Well, I guess my thoughts were to wait for the war to end first. And then we could discuss knocking you up," Lilly smiled cleverly.
"Wha– Me? Why me?"
"You're bigger. More space. I'm small, little space."
Mai didn't seem to have a good counter at first. "... But you're prettier!"
"First of all, I'm not. Second, they'll take after both of us either way, so that's not a reason. Also, I might turn into a bird or a walking inferno at any time, and I need to protect the city from danger!"
"... We'll talk about this later," Mia decided, not satisfied with the way this discussion was going. "Waiting sounds good, though."
At least they agreed on that part.
Lily started getting out from under the blanket, ready to get some clothes on. Mia seemed to enjoy the show, even during times like these.
Lilly opened the closet, finding mostly black or brown leather. With a slight smile, she picked out something she could consider wearing and started getting dressed.
"Black suits you," Mia said, admiring the view.
"Well, you'll get to join me in creating my new wardrobe. Keep it in mind. Oh, and I think we'll have to delay our date slightly if that's okay."
Mia chuckled before acting unhappy. "Awww, really? I've been shopping and everything!"
Lilly was putting the final touches on her outfit as she responded, "I'm really sorry, sweetie. It's been an awful day at the office."
Mia bounced out of bed with a grin, ready to leave. "I guess we can delay it slightly then. Let's go meet the world."
"Hang on, how does my face look? I feel very puffy," Lilly said, feeling her cheeks and eyes.
Mia had a hesitant look on her face as she replied. "... As always, you look perfect! Anyone with experience in makeup might want to slap me, but I think you look fine. People would understand, in any case."
"Thanks for the honesty," Lilly replied, ignoring her appearance for the day and heading out of the room, ready to meet the world once again.
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