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A parent's heart
🕑 Added 2022-09-29 11:10:01 +0000 UTCWith the Necros problem pretty much solved, Seth returned to the academy. As soon as he teleported back into his room, he found Maya waiting in bed for him, alone.
Opening her eyes, she looked at Seth with relief evident in her eyes.
“Your fight could be felt all the way here. I wanted to come and check on you, but I noticed Iris leaving and figured it might only create more trouble if I came too. How did it go?”
Seth came and lay down on the bed beside her, gently caressing one of her bare thighs.
“You did well not to come. I avoided Iris, but she would eventually still figure out I was involved in everything. Your presence there might have brought some trouble for our departure.”
“It went well, at least as well as it could have, all things considered, but we still need to hurry and leave the capital. The way I dealt with Necros was still sloppy anyway. I didn’t expect him to suddenly try to detonate his source.”
Covering Seth’s hand with her own, Maya sighed and said: “We can leave as soon as you want. We can even grab Tiana on the way if that’s what you’re worried about. I know the approximate area where she’s at.”
Seth shook his head and said: “There’s that as well, but there are other things I need to do. Where’s Hollie?”
“Hollie went back to her room to cultivate. She wanted to wait here for you, but we agreed it would be best for her to be in her room if Iris looked for her.”
“That’s good.”, said Seth with a smile, grateful for Maya’s constant consideration. “I’m going to rest for a while. Do you plan on cultivating over the night?”
Maya smiled wryly and showed him the empty vial on the side, prompting Seth to lay his head on her lap and close his eyes.
“Then I hope you won’t mind me taking this lap as my pillow.”, said Seth with a chuckle, prompting Maya to smile and start playing with his hair before closing her eyes as well, not to sleep but to cultivate.
The night went on peacefully and morning soon came again. After sharing some love with Maya in the morning, Seth went to his class as usual and stayed there with Henrietta, Leora, and Caitlin. The other girls were away for the day, staying with their families, so he continued his shame training practice with Henrietta and Caitlin. He wanted to finish the training before his journey south.
Once he had enough of terrorizing his students, Seth left the academy around noon and went straight to his parents’ place.
Finding his mother alone in the backyard, a lost look in her eyes, gazing towards the south, Seth approached her slowly and took a seat next to her on the small bench.
Hilda got startled and turned towards Seth, only for the corner of her lips to rise in a small smile as she asked: “Did you finally remember you have parents as well?”
Seth grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently as he said: “Sorry, mother. I’ve been quite busy lately and didn’t have time to see you two. How are things between you and Maya?”
Hilda sighed and turned to look back towards the south. “They are going. I can see she’s trying, so I try not to make it too difficult. What is frustrating is having your father keep advocating for her.”
“Speaking about father. Where is he at?” Seth chuckled and didn’t ask more about it.
“He left to help the people in the slums, but I didn’t feel like going today, so I stayed here. He appears to enjoy it, and I did too at the beginning, but now I just find it tiring.”
“Do you miss the village?” asked Seth.
“No. It’s just that, once we came here, I realized how much I enjoyed the peace of that small place.” Hilda sighed, adding, “I think I might be getting old.”
Seth sighed and accompanied his mother to silently stare into the distance. He wanted to break the news of the departure, but he also wanted to wait for his father to return.
Suddenly, Hilda turned towards him and said: “I get it you like Maya, but when will you have a child? I don’t know how long I’m in for this world, and I want to at least hold my grandchild before leaving.”
Seth almost choked when he heard her words. With the lifespan of an ascended, most of them were not in any hurry to have a child, Seth even more so. Seth smiled wryly, “Mom, what are you talking about? You’re not even forty yet.”
“That is true, but you never know what might happen. There are talks in the city of war breaking out and other stuff like that.”
“We never thought about it. Ascended live a long time and - “before Seth could finish his words, Hilda interrupted him: “You might do, but your father and I don’t, so hurry up.”
‘System, what are the odds of success in performing the affinity transfer operation on my parents?’
<After Caitlin breaks through again, success is guaranteed.>
Smiling lightly, Seth squeezed his mother’s hand harder and asked: “Mom, how do you feel about becoming an ascended along with dad? Then you won’t have to worry about not having enough time to see your grandchildren be born and grow up.”
Hilda looked at Seth with a raised eyebrow and said: “From what we’ve heard, ascended must be born with an affinity, and their progress would be slow, almost impossible after they reach thirty. Not even minding our age, do we even have an affinity for ascension?”
Seth shook his head and said: “You do not, but I have a way to change your body’s affinity so that you can cultivate a source of your own. The progress will be slower, but you can still ascend in a year or two with my help.”
Hilda lowered her head and fell silent for a long time before saying: “Nash and I, we’ve already lived our life. What purpose would living any longer have? We’re assured now that you are an ascended, rich, and also a teacher at the academy, so we can go in peace.”
“Even if war reaches the capital as word travels around the slums, I’m sure that, with your capabilities, you can just run away.” Taking a deep breath, Hilda shook her head and continued: “We don’t need power or to live longer; we just want to spend our last years and peace, Nash and I. Thank you for thinking about us, Seth, but the world of the ascended is your world, not ours.”
Seth also fell silent, not expecting his mother to outright decline his offer. Just as he was about to say something else, the courtyard gate swung open and Nash, together with a mercenary, walked in.
Spotting Seth on the bench, he walked up to him and his wife.
“Son, Hilda, what’s with the long faces?”
“Nothing, love. Just mother-son things.” Replied Hilda before Seth had the chance to, earning her a raised eyebrow from Seth, but he didn’t bother to correct her.
Standing up and sharing a hug with his father, Seth said: “In fact, I came here to speak to you two about something. I have to leave the capital.”
Nash didn’t understand what he meant, but Hilda did and asked: “You want us to move again?”
Seth could see a trace of unwillingness in her eyes, prompting him to nod with a sigh. “Let’s go inside so we can talk. There’s a lot both of you don’t know. You can come up with a decision after listening to everything I have to say.”
After taking his parents inside the house, all three sat down at the living room table, and Seth took a quick look between them.
Taking a deep breath, Seth told them about the alliance, the war, the ascended pact, the impossible chances of Oath winning, and so on. Once he explained the situation the kingdom was in, he added: “Because of that, we need to leave and settle in a new place for now.”
“Aren’t you required to head to war and help the kingdom as an academy teacher?” asked Nash, already aware that the academy would mobilize in case of an external threat marching on the capital.
“That is true, but if I stay here and fight normally, the kingdom won’t stand a chance to win. If I want to help, I’ll need to do it from the outside. That’s why I’m planning on taking over Blood Kingdom in the far south.”
Seth then went over his plan, not going into much detail, only telling them about his intent to fight the other kingdoms using Blood as a base and release some of the pressure Oath was in.
He knew he was mostly deceiving them, but Seth didn’t want them to know he’s been planning on taking over the entire kingdom from the beginning and that staying here would make that almost impossible.
Nash and Hilda listened to everything Seth had to say before looking at each other. Seth could see the unwillingness in both of their eyes, and he started feeling bad for not considering his parents’ feelings earlier.
“If you two don’t feel like leaving again, I can make some - “
“We’re coming.” Hilda cut him short.
Nash also agreed almost immediately with Hilda. “I’ve been getting bored with the capital anyway. This way, we can travel and see more places. This Blood Kingdom doesn’t sound like a fun place, but I’m sure you can turn it into a great one. You are my son, after all.”
Seth knew they only agreed not to make trouble for him, but he didn’t want to leave them here. With him in Blood, he had no way of reaching this place quickly if anything were to happen. There was also the chance of the King of Oath trying to use them as leverage in the far future.
“Thank you both. I promise that, once we reach the Blood Kingdom, I’ll never make you leave like this again.”
Turning towards Hilda, Seth looked into her eyes and said: “Mom, I heard what you said earlier, but please consider it. There’s so much more about this world that you haven’t had the chance to experience.”
Hilda stared into her son’s eyes before nodding with a sigh. “I’ll think about it... So, when are we leaving? We need to make some arrangements as well.”
Seth knew she was referring to the people of the slums. Ignoring the confused Nash’s face, Seth started explaining that he was waiting for someone to arrive back in the capital before leaving and that it would only take about a week. He also told them not to reveal their departure to anyone else.
After speaking a bit more with his parents, it was already late in the evening, and Seth returned to the academy. With his parents on board, all Seth had left was to check on his students’ families, wait for Tiana to return, and solve Aleena’s problem.
Slowly, the time of his departure was drawing near.
