194 Moving past i

"You're serious...?" the woman replied.

"Very serious! You two are on the same side now! You don't have to like each other, but you need to at least try to move past your mutual grudge so we can become a proper team!"

Detra was just speechless. She gazed at Marcus and Lilith who seemed to be just as surprised as she was. She would often forget that Ellie was just nine-years-old and would spout nonsense like this as if life was a fairy tale where people could solve their problems just by talking with each other.

But at the same time, looking at the young girl right now filled with an expectation on her eyes, it once again reminded her of Marcy during times where she would ask if they could adopt a puppy. Detra would always refuse her request and make Marcy cry, and she really didn't want to think about Marcy crying right now.

"Sigh... Fine... I'll apologize to her..." Detra mumbled.

"Really!!??" Marcus gasped. Lilith herself just remained quiet before turning her face to Ellie.

"Ellie... I know you have good intentions... But that's not how these things work..."

"Come on, Lilith!! At least try! For me!!!" Ellie begged while pressing her palms against each other.

"Ellie..." Lilith was about to try to convince the girl to stop her idea, but Detra interrupted her before she could start.

"It's fine... I actually want to do this myself..."

Lilith was the one who was shocked this time "you do...?? Why??"

Detra then took a deep breath and looked straight at Lilith who just had her eyes closed and her mouth wide open with both eyebrows raised.

"Because... Even though you never once respected me as a goddess... You still respected me as a mother... And as a person..." Detra whispered, "even after our entire history together... You still gave me the chance to honor my daughter by helping me face the one who mocked her death... You have my respect... Lilith, the swordswoman..."

Lilith wasn't sure of what to say, and even though she couldn't see, she knew that Detra was probably bowing right now since her voice was coming from below.

"I did what I did because I thought it would be what was the best for the world... But I see now that I just did it because it was what was best for me... I know that I can never give back the time I stole from you and your friends... and even though you might not believe me... I truly mean it when I say...

I'm sorry..."

Marcus and Ellie just looked at Detra who was on her knees on top of this really uncomfortable rocky terrain, her face almost touching the ground while supporting herself with her elbows.

Detra just remained there, waiting for Lilith's answer.

"Marcus... What do you think...?" Lilith asked, "you were the one she hurt the most..."

Marcus honestly didn't know how to feel. Part of him still hated and blamed his mother for all the things she did to him, and for all the things she made him do to others. He wanted to tell Lilith to just reject her apology and mlet her suffer for her crimes.

Another part, however, felt like he was seeing his mother for the first time in his life. Almost as if the cruel woman known as the goddess of the east was just a mask that she had put on after losing all hope in humanity and that the one in front of him was someone completely different, someone, who might still have hope.

In the end, Marcus felt that it wasn't his decision to make. He realized that he wanted Lilith to forgive her, but only because he wanted to start over with Detra and try to leave his past behind, as just a bad memory that could be lost in time.

But this was what he wanted, not what he felt was the right call.

"I trust you, Lilith... Whatever you decide, I know it will be the right choice" Marcus commented.

Lilith then stood up and came one step closer to Detra.

"You turned me and my friends into statues..." Lilith stated.

"I did..." Detra admitted.

"You kept Marceus as your prisoner for two-hundred years..."

"I did..."

"You used Marcus, a kid, as a tool just to fulfill your goal..."

Detra raised the corner of her eye and gave a small glance at Marcus, who was just looking at her while waiting to see what Lilith's decision would be.

"I did..."

"You ruined so many lives and caused so much pain... All while acting under the excuse of having some kind of noble mission... You are one of the worst human beings I've ever met..."

Detra did not respond. It was clear how Lilith felt about her after all.

"But..." Lilith continued.

Detra flinched.

"I don't think anyone could have gone for what you went through... and not come out broken..."

Detra lifted her head and released a small whisper, "what...?"

"I don't know if I can ever forgive you... I still hate you a lot... But I don't know if I can say that if I was in your place, I wouldn't have done the same... I don't know what I would do if something had happened to Lance or Daren..." Lilith continued.

"So..." Detra began to ask with a weak tone and tears coming out from her eyes.

"I'm not going to reject someone who's trying to make an effort to be better... I accept your apology" Lilith said while bending her knees and placed her face in the same height as Detra's.

The former goddess couldn't hold it any longer and began to loudly cry a full river from her face while shaking her entire body.

If Lilith never in her life expected Detra to apologize to her, Detra herself never expected her apology to be accepted. It felt like for the first time in her life ever since she lost Marcy that she was an actual human again.

Then, a thought came to her mind. It wasn't the first time. There was another moment, one where another person looked at Detra not as if she was a goddess of a devilish woman, but just a person like anyone else. That person's voice echoed in Detra's mind.

[[You know, East... You asked me once if I hated you when we first met... And I said that I didn't... And I still feel like that... I never really hated you...

Don't know how much that means to you... But it's how I truly feel...]]

Detra felt her chest tightening up. She began to realize how much she had been ignoring all the effort Evlin had made to make her feel welcomed. How many times she could have given up on her, rejected her, ignored her, but she never did.

The woman then opened her eyes and gazed at a small hand in front of her. She raised her head and saw Ellie crying while looking at her.

"Feeling better?" Ellie asked.

Detra grabbed the girl in a deep hug and began to cry even more. She didn't know why. All this girl did was ask her to make her peace with Lilith, but for some reason, the fact that Ellie still hadn't given up on trying to help her when everyone else in the world seemed to have done so, it just made Detra feel like a huge weight had been lifted, as if she finally realized she wasn't alone for the first time in years.

"I'm so sorry!! I'm so, so sorry!!!" Detra kept saying.

"It's fine, it's fine..." Ellie replied while patting her back.

"No, it's not!! I made a huge mistake!! A huge, huge mistake!!! And I never even realized it until I met you!!! I'm sorry!! I'm sorry!!!"

Marcus looked at the scene of East crying while holding Ellie and began to tear up as he began to remember of the only time he ever saw Marceus in the white void and how he just kept apologizing for leaving everything to him.

He was so busy wiping his tear that he didn't even notice when Detra came closer to him while still holding onto Ellie.

"Marcus..." she tried to say, "I... I..."

Marcus noticed that she was probably also trying to apologize to him.

He knew deep inside that they were not really mother and child. She had explained to him that she had created him by combining her essence with Marceus as his request for wanting to die in peace. But to him, she was still one of the only people he knew when he first came to be, and right now? He was just glad to know that the evil East was finally gone and that the old Natasha seemed to be back.

"You can do it, mom..." Marcus whispered.

And right at this moment, hearing Marcus finally say the word 'mom' with no fear or anger in his voice whatsoever, Detra understood that she really wanted to start over more than she realized.

She hugged him deeply while completely covering his silver hair in her tears.

"I'm so sorry... Forgive me, my son!!"

Marcus widened his eyes. His mother had called him many names over the years, her tool, her sword, her champion, her weapon, but not once did she ever called him his son, and before he noticed, he was tearing up and crying just as much as her.

Ellie just took this chance to sit next to Lilith while letting both mother and son have their moment.

"Lilith... I really wish you could see what I'm seeing right now..." the girl whispered.

"It's ok... I think I have a pretty good idea" Lilith replied.

And while Marcus continued to be embraced by Detra as the two still remained to bawl their eyes out, Lilith began to imagine herself in Daren's arms while holding Lance.

She couldn't wait to reunite with her family again.