Chapter 63 - Demi Is Here

"Mom. Is she really going to be part of our family? Demi hasn't even been gone for too long and you're already going to replace her?!"

"Who said anything about replacing Demi, Von?"

"No one has to say it, mom! You're being too obvious! And here I thought you care about Demi as much as I did. Turns out you don't care about her anymore! All you care about is this… tournament! And collecting all these girls to replace Demi. You're the worst-"

"Don't talk to your mother like that, Von!" Sir Grand's voice suddenly thundered across the dim room.

"No! You shut up! You don't even know what Demi's favorite food was! You were never here so why are you even here now?!"

"Von, son, please calm down." Venedette tried to woo him while keeping her own tears at bay.

"You're overstepping your boundaries, Von." Sir Grand growled in a very low voice, ready to teach his son a lesson but Venedette stopped him by intercepting his way and pushing his chest softly.

"I got this." Venedette's whispered with a sore voice.

The bareness of the bunker allowed their voices to travel from one end to another without much effort, but unlike Venedette's soft voice, Von was clearly aggravated by this mistaken impression that Gem will replace Demi as his sister after the ceremony.

"People will forget about Demi. If Gem's last name becomes Lorestifa, people will forget Demi even existed."

"Why would you say that Von?"

"Because it's true! I'm the only one who remembers her. You even gave the stat-hut we were saving for Demi's ninth birthday to her! How am I supposed to understand that?" Von said with a dried throat from crying too much.

"I-" Venedette tried to say something but because what Von said was true, she couldn't make a word come out of her mouth.

"See? You don't care about Demi's feelings at all! All you did was satisfy your own greed by replacing Demi so you wouldn't feel sad anymore. But what about me? What about Demi's feelings? Demi is irreplaceable to me! And if you think the same then you shouldn't let this ceremony happen! You shouldn't let Halma bless Gem as the official replacement for Demi no matter how different you think it is! Please! Stop this."

"It was not our decision, Von," Venedette said with a weak, shaky voice. Unlike Von whose voice was as clear as a violent wave in the sea, determined to get his message across.

Incidentally, hearing those words from Von made Venedette realize something from her deepest and darkest intentions from all of the things she had been doing all this time.

She knew to herself that what Von said was right.

But at the same time, he was also wrong.

It was so wrong to the point where all Venedette could do was to deny everything to her grave.

She didn't take in Gem just because she was missing Demi. She took Gem in because being there at that exact moment seemed too much of a coincidence for her. It was as if she was meant to be there, to save Gem and to take care of her.

It was as if the Heavens made it so Gem was not just a normal person, they made her special so she would have a reason to stay beside Venedette. And eventually, Venedette believed that Gem was the Heaven's way of saying sorry to her. For taking her real child away from her at such an early age.

Gem helped to fill the void in Venedette's heart. And as if it wasn't enough, Gem also became the key for her to finally enact her revenge on Yumeki. Everything fitted so perfectly in Venedette's mind that it became safe to say that having Gem here was her destiny. And ultimately being spared from thinking about the obvious fact that she was already replacing the hole that Demi caused in her heart through this mission.

"But none of this was Gem's fault. She didn't come here just to simply replace Demi. She came here in her stead, offering a helping hand to avenge your fallen sister, Von. Gem is willing to make the people who hurt Demi pay. Isn't that what you want?"

"No! I don't want to lose my family any more mom. I told you, I don't want you to participate in this tournament! You of all people should know about the real deal when going outside of those borders for the tournament! Killing over there is not illegal! Just please, stay here with me. Demi doesn't want you to go too."

"Demi is not here anymore, Von!" Sir Grand shouted out of frustration.

This was the effect of losing Demi for Von aside from having attitude disorders, Von also developed an imaginary image of Demi in his mind for missing her too much. Von was not really a good brother to Demi but Demi was a good little sister to him. She would always make these silly faces to make his grumpy face smile but she would always end up being ignored.

And when Von finally came to his senses and decided he would want to be a good sibling to Demi too, she was suddenly gone. He couldn't accept how unfair Demi was for not giving him a chance to be a good brother to her.

"Step out of it! Demi is not here anymore!"

"No! She's here. She's here." Von kept on insisting while shaking his head, refusing to listen to his father.

"Grand!" Venedette became alarmed after realizing Von's panic attack. "Stop it!"

"He needs to get out of it as soon as possible or he won't be able to get over it when he grows old."

"Lei! Call the nurse!" Venedette shouted to Lei who was on standby beside the door.

"You don't understand! The doctor told us to take it slowly! You can't force him to accept Demi's death just like that!"

"No! Demi is still here!"

"Yes, yes, you're right Von. Demi is here. She's here." Venedette tried to woo him down by pointing at her heart.

"Demi is here," she told him again with a clenched heart.