Chapter 260 - Return To Ishgar {36} Paradise Island, Part VII

his"Get your lazy butt out of bed, and let's go have some dinner." Amell removed the blanket covering Valerie.

"I don't want to, dad! How about I get to sleep another two hours and then Sebas can bring the leftovers to me."

"That won't do at all! My daughter will not eat leftovers. You have three seconds to get your butt out of that bed or I will be forced to use more drastic measures."

"Fine! You win!" She started getting out of bed at a snail's pace, meanwhile, Amell stood and looked as she intentionally tried to stall. "You know, dinner won't be served until I say so, so whatever this little act of rebellion is. It won't work here!"

"I don't like meeting new people! This place is probably filled to the brim with weirdos, do you really wanna expose your daughter to that? What would mom say if staying here turned me into some sort of weird pervert?!" After a moment of silence, Amell came out of his shock.

"Don't try to use your mother to scare me off. It won't work. And, secondly, what kind of person do you think I am? There are no weirdos or perverts here so you can be safe."

"Hm? Have you talked to Hisoka lately?" She had finally gotten out of bed. She had on a white shirt with military pants. This was what she always wore when she trained.

"Stop arguing, we're already late for dinner."

"What? I thought you said that they won't start without you?"

"That was just a trick to get you out of bed. Your dad is not as stupid as you think." He flicked his finger and she got pushed over towards the door by a small wind push.

"Well played, dad. But, heed my words, daddy! My revenge is coming!"

"Good luck!" Amell opened the door and they left the room. They ventured off towards the arena. Amell wanted to check in on his students before dinner and check how far they had gotten in understanding their new magic. He fully expected at least Jellal to have already grasped the concept around his new magic. He was also hopeful for Orga and Sherria, but his expectations of them weren't as high as it was for Jellal.

As they were walking, Valerie glanced up at Amell and she lightly brushed up against him, "Dad I heard some of the guys back home talking about how you... Can't die or something, is that true?"

"What guys?" Amell understood that the time had come to talk with her, he just hoped it wouldn't be this soon.

"Toshi, Cal and them. They argued very loudly about your age, and I just happened to overhear them. So, are they right? Are you immortal or something?"

"I knew you would find out eventually, I just wish your brother was here so I could take this up with both of you at the same time. You're not immortal, but also, not far from it."

"What the hell does that mean? Either I'm immortal or I'm not. A pretty straight forward question, isn't it?"

"Both yes and no. You are not immortal, but your bloodline is very special. Let's just say you will live for a very long time. Far, far beyond any normal human." This was the moment he dreaded most. Would she start hating him for giving her this almost curse-like bloodline? Maybe she was too young and immature to understand the weight of this.

"For how long exactly? Like, two or three hundred years old or something?"

"Try and add a couple of zeros to that number, and maybe then we're getting close to the real number."

"Wha... wh-what? Are you saying I'm gonna live for like a million years or something? How is that even possible?"

"Not a million. Truthfully, sweetheart. I don't know. There is no way to know for sure. The only thing I know for certain is that every one of my children who carries my bloodline has an extended lifespan. There is just no way to know how long that will be, I'm just guessing."

"What if I find a boyfriend or something, I will outlive them every time?"

"What!? Yo have a boyfriend? Who is it? I'll kill him!" Amell broke apart the floor and the ominous black clouds came back again.

"No, no, no, dad, I don't! It was just hypothetical! Calm down, you're scaring me!" She took him by the hand and squeezed as hard as she could, that jolted him back to reality again.

"Sorry, sweetheart. Just the thought of someone chasing after my baby..." The clouds dispersed and the ground stopped shaking. "Please, continue with what you were gonna say." He tried his best to look calm and collected, but the thought of any of his favourite girls having boys chasing them dragged his mind into some of the darkest places. Valerie, Robin, even Toph to a certain extent. In his mind, no one was good enough for them. The only thing stopping him from murdering all these boys in cold blood was the girl's happiness. That was what trumps his desire to exterminate all the males in the universe.

"Thanks, it won't be any more freakouts now, right? I don't like that side of you. Anyway, as I was saying, will I outlive all of my boyfriends? Will my future children dier before me?"

"You shouldn't be thinking about these morbid thoughts. You are still only nine years old, so, let's change the subject to something a lot more cheerful. " Valerie was gonna argue back but Amell hushed her. "Tell me about your bending, how is that going?"

"ugh, fine. It's going good, I think. Valerius and I spar a lot and he is currently in the lead with eighty-one wins and seventy-two losses. But, that's only because his elements are easier to master than mine are. When I fully master my air and water bending, he is gonna be in some danger. I can't wait to turn that smug smile of his into an expression of pain and terror."

"Cool it there, hotshot! You inherited my two most powerful elements, air and water. You must remember that those two come with a lot of responsibility. Advanced water bending is potentially the most deadly kind of bending. You can't have that reckless nature when practising an advanced form of bending since it will fog your mind's clarity."

"You don't have to tell me that again. I am nine years old and I already practise advanced studies in two bending arts. You don't have to tell me these simple concepts over and over again. I am one in a century genius!"

If any ordinary bender found out what this little girl could do they might lose the confidence to ever bend again. Being Amell's children certainly gave them multiple advantages over other people. One of the things they inherited from Amell was his bending arts. Valerie inherited water and air bending, and Valerius inherited his earth and fire bending. Both of them already studied advanced forms of their respective bending arts.

"If you truly understood the importance of those concepts you wouldn't argue with me this much. Be more diligent in your studies, young lady!" Amell tapped her lightly on the head, but still hard enough for it to hurt just a little.

"Whatever, are we there yet?" They had been walking this entire time, yet they hadn't arrived yet. That proved yet again how massive his castle was. Amell heard the tiredness and annoyance in her tone, he was about to respond, but he suddenly felt a distant calling. A familiar one that he immediately identified as belonging to one of his students. Though, this time it was urgency and panic in this calling to his soul.

Amell grabbed his daughter's hand and they both disappeared from the corridor like they had faded out of reality all-together. They appeared in the courtyard beside the arena where his young students still sat and read their scrolls.

"I apologize for the sudden increase in movement. Something urgent just came up, and I need to leave." He looked down and saw his daughter on the ground, her face was green and she had to close her eyes and take deep and slow breaths just so she wouldn't start projectile vomiting.

"W-W-WARN ME NEXT TIME!!" She had to immediately cover her mouth with her hands as to add another layer of protection against the vomit that tried forcing its way up her throat.

"Master, you have returned!" Jella stood on the edge of the arena with a humble expression. "You spoke of urgency, is it anything we can do?" He looked back at the others and they all nodded. They had stopped reading and instead started focusing on Amell.

"Not this time, Jellal! There are parts of my life that you are not yet allowed to know about. In time, you will. For now, I require all of you to be patient." He bent down next to Valerie, "I trust everyone here completely, but maybe because I'm your father I don't feel comfortable about leaving you here. Especially when your mother isn't here. So, here are the options, either you come along with me or I send you home to your mother." Her face lit up right away, for her, this was too easy.

"I'm going with you, of course!" She felt better now so she stood up on somewhat wobbly legs.

"Grandpa, is this your daughter?" Sherria jumped down from the stage and ran up to them. She directly invaded Valerie's personal space and inspected her from head to toe. Valerie was considered by many to be very pretty. Her hair was long and angelic white, and she had two bangs on either side of her face that framed her childish and slightly chubby face quite well. She had, of course, inherited Amell's mystical and beautiful silver-coloured eyes.

"Yeah, I am! The more important question is, why are you calling my dad, grandpa?" Valerie took a step forward, forcing Sherria out of her space.

"It started as a joke, but now he is, grandpa Amell. Simple as that!"

"Dad, is that true?"

Amell looked deeply troubled and annoyed, which he was because he didn't have time to deal with this right now. "Another time, you two. Something urgent has come up, as you overheard. You will stay here, and Sebas will temporarily take over your training. What he says goes. He is kind and knowledgable, but his patience is not as good as mine so do not anger him unnecessarily."

"When will you be back?" Milliana asked quietly from the back.

"At most, a week! Valerie and I need to go now since our business is quite urgent. One last reminder, follow Seba's instructions while I'm gone. And, don't think for a second that just because I'm gone that I will allow slackers. I will be testing all of you when I get back." He cut open a rift in the air with his finger, and Sherria almost jumped into it on pure instinct.

"When I get back I will be expecting results from every one of you. Be good, and listen to Sebas. Goodbye!" He and Valerie walked through the portal and it closed right after Amell's figure stopped being visible. Sherria stood in salute until the portal completely disappeared, then she turned around with her fist raised high. "You heard the boss man, diligent studies!" Yet again, her try for a warcry had been rejected, so she sat down dejected and her mind reflected the words of her respected master.

-----------------------------------------

End