Chapter 163: Family Matters, Part 5

There was a knock on a door. 

Truth be told, I have been expecting that knock for quite some time now. It was simply a matter of time…  frankly, I was a little surprised it took this long for it to happen.

Guess I wasn't the only one that's a little reluctant.

Even so, I can't always expect to slam the door on my problems and hope that it'll somehow work itself out. No matter how long it'll take, one way or another, whether it be five minutes, ten - or in this case, a long thirty - they'll just come knocking at the door for you.

Cause in spite of the resentment, the bitterness, despite whatever's been said and done - there's no she wouldn't come knocking at the door for me. 

I mean, after all, what are mothers for?

Another knock sounded.

"Master," Ash leered an eye at the closed door. "Would you like me to…" 

"Yeah."

There was still some part of me that would rather that problem stayed sealed behind closed doors, but if I always let that impulsive arrogant part get what it wanted, then what the hell was the point of growing up?

Can't stay a bratty kid forever.

Ash opened the door. 

Didn't see her at first, only heard her.

"Hello." I didn't have to look at her to know a warm smile came with that hello. "May I come in for a moment?"

Evil Goddess, and here she was respecting boundaries, inquiring politely, really, if Ash was at all bewildered by the disparity of it then she did a splendid good job hiding it from view.

A wordless bow, before stepping aside in welcome.

Mom walked into the room, her steps slow and meek. She looked around briefly, before her wander stopped short at the hunched figure perched silently at the foot of the bed. 

Our gazes met. Those slanted, sharp-angled black eyes that matched my own… felt like I was staring in a mirror or something.

"Cake?"

She nudged her hands forward, forefinger and thumb clasping the outer edges of a small plate, and atop of it was a slice of her signature chocolate cake that kid-me would have salivated all over at a moment's notice.

Still, my hands laid limp atop crumpled sheets.

"Ah, I suppose not." There was a hint of disappointment in her voice, but her smile stayed kind. "Maybe later. Hopefully later."

She placed the plate on the nearby table, and now that her hands were free to roam, chose to clasp them firmly together. Her eyes began to wander again, given the bedroom a thorough survey, four corners and all.

Her assessment?

"I notice you don't have any clocks. These are some lonely walls you have in this house..."

I shifted in place, propping my head against an open palm. "Call it a design choice, I suppose."

"Or I could call how I see it," Mom gave a sigh. "Has little Davey been stalking you?"

My head unpropped itself, tilting high up at her. "Little Davey?"

"Told your Dad he was gonna do it, I told him he has no sense of privacy," She shook her head, for the first time, looking stern. "One of these days, he's really going to get it from me. Oh, mark my words…"

So there was finally a name to go with that face, that limp, and that cane. Out of all things… Little Davey. If I ever meet him again, guess I should refrain from referring to him as such. 

"Nevermind that for now," Mom said, breathing herself back to composure. "The kind of company your father keeps isn't what you want to know right now, is it? So many questions… so little time..."

Her eyes looked off to the side, towards the figure standing motionless by the doorway.

"Elf…" Mom smiled again, it wasn't the same one as before… now it just looked like she was forcing it. "I need some alone time with my son. Do you mind if you…?"

Ash plainly spoke, "My apologies, but that decision is not up to me." and caught my eye in the briefest of glances. 

"It's okay, Ash," I said, giving my most reassuring look. "I'll be fine."

Knowing Ash, I'm sure she'd much prefer to stay and keep a close eye on me. That's just how she was - my sake above all, even if it meant going against the evil, meanie Goddess… 

But also knowing her, I know she wouldn't question my wishes, my assurances, and so, with only another shared glance with one another, Ash took a bow, and promptly made her exit, closing the door shut behind her.

"Wow, she's a loyal one," Mom said, then turned to me with an impish grin. "Beautiful too, very much so. Ooo, those girls downstairs have some stiff competition, don't they?"

"Not really any of your business, frankly," I said.

"Oh, but your mother thinks otherwise," She tilted her head, then took a seat right beside me. "In fact, she's actually dying to know which one would end up being her future daughter-in-law. I'm feeling a narrow-eared… white-haired… green-eyed -"

"I'm leaving."

"Undecided still, alright, alright, stay," She stifled a giggle. "I won't press anymore."

"How long do you plan to keep putting it off?" 

Mom sighed again, that smile slowly fading. "Not any longer…"

Something poked me inside like someone just jabbed a sharp stick into my chest. The culprit and the cause wasn't a mystery to find. That poke was guilt, and the stickman was me - and the pain was telling me to knock it off.

You don't like making your mom upset, do you? Even if you every right to… do you want to?

I didn't think so.

"Let me see your leg."

My eyes turned her way once more. "Huh?" 

Mom had a hand lightly patting against her lap. It was a sight and sound both vividly familiar to me. Countryside living means countryside exploring, and I was a very eager explorer. Through trenches and ditches, mounds and hills, my young self love to bite off more than he can chew.

I'd come back home bruised, sometimes bleeding… one time I even came back with a limp after a particularly nasty fall. The bedroom upstairs is where I'd go, and mom would always be there on the bed… clicking her tongue, shaking her head… patting her lap.

Slightly wincing, I shifted myself sideways, placing my bandaged leg gently onto where she indicated. Carelessness and aggressiveness had opened the wound again - the damp red seeping through the many layers.

"This looks terrible," Mom said, her face creasing with anguish. "I'm sorry you got hurt. I'm sorry…"

Wasn't going to say it wasn't her fault, I wasn't also going to say that it was either. In times like these, best to just let the silence speak for itself. 

Her fingers lightly drifted across my calf, going back and forth in a steady hover, just as she's always done before with every injury I've sustained - can't believe I never questioned how exactly my boo-boos disappear without leaving so much as a scar every time I visit her.

Guess the fact that she always bandaged them out of sight after the fact was satisfactory enough for my young naive self.

Now though, there wasn't any need to hide anything… not anymore. It took a few seconds, but eventually, the throbbing pain started to subside… growing fainter and fainter with every wave of her hand until there was nothing left aside from the sensation of tightly-placed bandages.

I lowered my leg back onto the floor, no hisses, no winces… 

"Y'know," I said, sucking in a breath. "You could have saved me a whole world of pain if you had just taught me how to do that myself."

Mom faintly smiled, clasped hands laying atop her empty lap. "I hoped you'd never have to. Wielding magic… dealing with magic… things like these should only be reserved to people like me."

She glanced backwards, raising a hand towards the sprawled-out locks of murky grey hair on the bed, weaving her fingers affectionately through the strands. Her eyes staring so warm and tender to the vampire in slumber.

"People like us."

That look in her eyes, that amity, it has its own history. A once upon a time I knew nothing about. The life she had, the life she lived, and the life she left… it was easy to fall into the thought that she's lived her whole life here, was nothing more than a loving wife and mother…

Then here she was stroking the hair of one of the most feared races of a realm that has ceased to be and that illusion just shatters into pieces. 

"Adalia came looking for you," I said, following her gaze. "Along with her sister. Wanted you to solve their frenzy problem."

"I never thought them still alive, much less here in this realm..." Her hand stretched further to Adalia's cheeks, fingertips caressing lightly across her pale skin. "What a persistent pair, they are…"

"Played hide and seek with them, did you?"

Mom snorted in amusement. "Guess they found me. Again."

Once more, that smile began to fade. I've seen her upset, I've seen her worry, but I've never seen her looked so apprehensive. It was a little unnerving.

"I think it's about time I open up to you about a couple of things," She said. "Let me tell you a short tale about Terestra the Vile."