Chapter XXV: A God’s Eternal Plan (1)

Previously

“Sh-She’s done it!”

The entire town square broke out in cries of delight and cheers of happiness as their lives had just been saved. They all thought that they would die there and then, some of them even froze on the spot, accepting their fates but it appears that the gods had smiled upon them. And, to think they would have been saved by a young woman - the daughter of Hunter Leo to mention! - who had just started on the path to adulthood. There were many who had questions as to the origins of her power, but most of them had been too busy celebrating the safety their savior had just granted to them. 

One of them, however, had the opposite reaction as he could barely breathe, eyes full of guilt as they looked over to what his daughter had become. He was still full of shock at the fact that his daughter had survived but to think she had not just survived, but utterly dominated the demons like they were nothing more than toys? Had she made a deal with the devil to gain that much power? That much strength?

Elm stood for a moment, relishing in the surge of power rising from within her core as she felt herself grow multiple steps stronger, absorbing the energy from the demon she had just vanquished. With this, she was one step closer to changing that fate. She opened her eyes, looked around and saw her parents had a number of small injuries on them. 

As she walked towards them, the familiar claws of guilt gripped onto Leonard’s heart again. If she did make a deal with the devil or other nefarious creatures,. . .was his betrayal the reason she had done so? No, even if she did, he couldn’t abandon her again. Not again.

For now, however, his brain wasn’t working enough to come up with an answer. He felt his wife tremble in his arms, tears spilling from her eyes. 

“My baby,” His wife muttered, voice trembling from her silent cry. “Leonard, that’s our daughter right there. Oh, I thought we lost her.”

But then, the both of them had the same thought. His wife was the first to vocalize it. “Leonard, our baby boy! Leonard, she said he was still alive. W-We need to go search for him!”

Before Leonard could say anything, Elm appeared in front of them as her expressionless face stared over them. Has she grown taller? 

“Father,” Elm nodded at Leonard. Then she turned to his wife. “Mother.”

His wife immediately unwinded herself from his arms as she launched towards Elm, hugging her with the arms of a dead worried mother, reluctant to rest her arms in the fear that she might be gone again. She cried into Elm’s shoulders, her lips trembling with all the words that wanted to come out yet couldn’t. It wasn’t until a while before she settled on a sentence. “W-We thought we lost you.”

Leonard tried to make himself small but straightened his back when Elm’s focus turned to him. They simply stared at each other like that for a while before he found the courage to ask his question, “Do you hate me?”

Elm only cocked her head back. “Why would I hate you, father?”

“Because I left you!” Leonard yelled, gritting his teeth. “I promised protection over you and your brother yet the moment the demons attacked, I left you without a thought.” He buried his face in his hands, tears of guilt streaming down his rough cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have, I-I’ve failed as a father.”

The family stood there silent for the moment, communicating through their sobs and hugs as the both of them apologized for their terrible parenthood while Elm just listened. 

Soon enough they parted, her parent’s face still red with tears and snot. Elm, on the other hand, was still calm as the oceans. She looked at them and said, “Hand.”

The both of them were quizzed but obeyed their daughter’s request, holding out their hands. As Elm touched their hands, a pregnant silence lingered before a soft, warm glow of light appeared on their interlocked hands before it traveled across their bodies, healing them of any minor wounds and scratches.

“By the gods,” Leonard heard his wife whisper. The both of them couldn’t tear their eyes from the soft glow that accompanied their bodies as they looked somewhat like a human torch. The others also noticed as they watched the mystical show. 

Elm opened her eyes again, and after seeing that her parents had been mostly healed, she retracted her hands. “Do you still feel any pain elsewhere?”

Leonard almost whined upon the loss of warmth from Elm’s light but caught himself. He had already made a fool of himself as a man and a father, no need to lose any more face. 

He turned to Elm, and shook his head. “N-no.” He saw Elm turned her attention to his wife, who also shook her head. 

“That’s good,” Elm said as she turned around, looking ready to lift off again. Before she could however, Leonard and his wife stopped her, gripping onto her arm. She turned around. 

“A-Are you going to go?” His wife asked, a worried expression on her face. 

Leonard chimed in. “With the demons now slain from your blade, I’m sure we can reach the church quickly enough. All the stocked up supplies are there. We can camp there until the distress signal is picked up by the capital. They shouldn’t take longer than two moons.” His face twitched, looking as if he wanted to say something more. “We can stay there. W-We’ll be safe there until this whole thing calms down.”

“No,” Elm denied with a shake of her head. 

Leonard’s wife lost it there. She held onto Elm’s arms, refusing to let go. Before his daughter could question her behavior, his wife yelled, “No, no! I’m not letting you go out there! Only the gods know how many demons are still flying out there!”

“Mom,” Elm whispered weakly. 

His wife held onto her tighter. “Elm Mary Ambers, As your mother, I will NOT allow you to endanger yourselves anymore!”

“Please understand your mother,” Leonard said with a heavy heart. “I-I may not qualify as your father anymore but please, please don’t leave. Stay.”

For the first time in a while, Leonard got to take a good look at his daughter’s eyes. Her amber eyes always were full of the wisdom and maturity that even many of his old friends failed to possess but he could still see some naive innocence then. Now. . .now, it looked as if she had seen it all, as if she had seen the evilest of evil and the darkest of nights - like she had seen something and now, there was a fire lit in her otherwise calm, golden eyes. 

The transformation must have come when she went with the old chief - he must have shown her something in relation to her emblem. Leonard recognized the current Elm as strong, far stronger than him as she had single-handedly wiped out the demons but she was still his daughter, . . .the same daughter he had let go and failed to save. 

And now she was here yet she wanted to leave? Out there where demons as strong as the one she had just killed could be thriving? He had taken one look back to the path they had run from, the townsquare and temple area. Images of giggling demons, demons bigger and stronger than the little ones they had just survived from, appeared in his mind. 

“Please,” Leonard begged, going so far as to prepare himself to kneel. There might be people still crying for help back there in the square but he’d rather it was them than his daughter. They had already lost their son and the daughter he thought he had also lost was alive in front of him. H-He couldn’t let her go.

But just as he crouched, Elm caught him, stopping him as she pulled him close, along with his wife and whispered into their ears, “He’s still alive.”

Lightning struck him. Leonard was speechless and his wife went slack, sliding off her daughter as the two processed the information. They didn’t say anything, couldn’t say anything.

Elm repeated the words she had told them once more, “I’ll be back.” She prepared to leave but stopped, turning to the stunned pair of father and mother behind her. “I’ll make sure to bring him back.”

She channeled her newfound power, the rush of warmth and pure light coursing through her veins. Elm whispered to herself as the world slowed, repeating her words.

“I’ll bring him back.” 

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