Chapter 776

Chapter 776: Mother and Son

A sense of guilty pleasure invaded the atmosphere, to see a young noble be snapped piece by piece felt sadistically satisfying. They watched, and for all-inclusive purposes, made no comments. The extinguished cigar landed beside the man’s bleeding face. “-Call an ambulance,” he sarcastically said, “-any legal problem, address it to, the Prince of Arda, Igna Haggard.”

“The devil of Glenda,” gasped the officer.

“Let it be a lesson, son of a count.”

Frantic breaths ran into the waiting room, “-Jeya,” the face shimmered, “-are you alright?”

“Avian,” she replied, “-I’m fine. Teno’s doing an examination.”

“What happened?” he sat not after dismissing men in police uniforms. She explained, his blood boiled.

“Don’t worry,” said a reassuring voice, “-a gentleman rescued our children,” she pointed forward, “-he’s with the doctors.”

.....

‘Who might it be?’ Avian rose took short strides, turned the corner of a very sterile room, nurses moved to and fro, ignorant of his timid steps. Voices spoke clutters, ‘-what are they talking about?’ he reached the room, rather, a partition of wooden walls with much less an entrance.

“How’s the boy now?”

“Healing magic works better to conventional medicines,” said the doctor, “-too bad not many people have the ability to control mana and use said spells nowadays.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic,” returned Igna at the boy’s side. His open palms had flickers of green crystal rain onto the boy’s tense expression, the more it went, the better he grew, a frown turned to smile, “-there was a time where everyone could use magic.”

“That era has ended long ago, the only place remotely close to teaching magic is Claireville Academy. I sent my boy there to study the same art, thought it would have been a great idea to learn how to heal without using tools or performing dangerous surgeries.”

“Healing magic has its limits,” he said and side-glanced the entrance, “-standing in the hall eavesdropping won’t bring much to the situation.”

“Pardon the intrusion,” the curtains parted, “-I came to check on my son.”

“What a close world this is,” said Igna, “Count Avian Stark.”

“Viscount of Glenda.”

“There’s a sight which brings pleasure to my eyes,” the green light dimmed, Teno’s consciousness returned, and opening sight fell onto the count, “-father,” he smiled.

“Teno, I was worried,” he ran to embrace the boy, “-are you well?”

“I think so,” he replied, “-father, father, look, I made a new friend,” he pointed to Igna, “-he saved me.”

“Here you are,” replied Igna, “-the paper plane you went after. A little worse for wear.”

“This is the plane I built,” said the count, he sought answers.

“A wind blew,” replied Teno, “-the plane flew. I ran after to catch it.”

“Basically, he ran into speeding traffic,” said Igna, “-the situation’s been handled. The driver wanted the child and mother to pay for the damages the car sustained.”

“Where is he now?” flames rose behind his somewhat casual resting face.

“In the operating room,” shrugged Igna, “-the officers outside can give more details. Let’s just say, I didn’t take lightly to his ways,” the rolled shirt returned to normal with a few crinkles, he slid into the suit-jacket, gave a friendly high-five, firmly shook the father’s hand and left. The sun vanished into a moonless night, outside lamps flickered into light.

‘In the operating room?’ he walked, seeking answers to the puzzle. Good or bad didn’t matter, he wanted to uncover the truth, an obsession with the facts led into a quiet corridor lined with desolate seats, far-end of which sat a curled figure.

“Inspector Mai?”

Head buried into her palm, “-who’s asking,” she muffled across.

“Count Stark,” he replied, “-I need answers.”

“Finally showed up,” she rose her head and revealed dirtied makeup and an air of having cried, the eyes were bloodshot, the edges puffy and painfully watery, “-I only did my job,” she said, “-this isn’t my fault.”

“Start from the beginning, what happened?”

She gave a coherent summary, the interjections of sniffles and coughs broke the flow various of times, he bore and reached the end, “-Igna nonchalantly broke lord Theo’s arms and legs, even extinguished a cigar in his eye. I’ve never seen such brutality performed so mundanely. The doctors say the lord isn’t in any life-threatening risk, the injuries may leave permanent marks, some say he runs the risk of being paralyzed.”

“Why?”

“Because the Lord wanted to blame the incident on your wife and child. We sort of forcibly halted the ambulance to resolve the matter around the time the boy fell unconscious. You have to understand, I was doing my job, we needed to get a statement no matter what.”

“I see,” he paused, “-I get the picture, there’s no cause for concern,” and left. Scribbles went along the notebook, ‘-why did it have to be him. He put himself at risk for the sake of a stranger, rescuing my child and making enemies with a noble to steer the blame from Teno. Still, a favor won’t bring anything, I still plan to execute what was discussed,’ he stepped inside the warm room, child and wife waited patiently to greet their father.

Dusk fully encompassed the land, the casual detour of saving a child spawned various articles over the Arcanum. ‘Unknown hero saves a child from death,’ it read, security footage of the rescue was slowed and shown. On the matter of the noble’s beating, the footage corrupted, no proof meant no credibility.

“Please set behind the yellow line,” said a loudspeaker. The underground station is linked to Lei, Juei, One, and the terminal. He ambled amidst the crowded area, entered the tram, and made for Juei.

“Fenrir’s in the Shadow Realm,” read a message.

‘After what she said, a meeting will be very awkward,’ he arrived little more than ten minutes later. Up the tiled stairs and into the damp night, the residential buildings grew taller and jammed pack. A slew of office-workers returned, ‘-the norms have changed,’ he quietly observed and took the vague direction to Lady Courtney’s apartment. ‘-it’s normal for people to forget the magic and focus on education; fighting isn’t mandatory. Adventurers are rare as is, especially since the pay they get from risking their lives and slaving behind a computer equates the same.’ Soon after, he arrived at the apartment, took the elevator to the penthouse, many of the residents had a sense of dignity.

‘Home sweet home?’ the locks clicked, the interior remained unchanged, the television gave subtle flashes and mild chatter. Therein sat Courtney with a pillow on her lap, her eyes blankly stared at the moving images, *flick,* the light toggled, “-mother?”

“Igna,” her trance broke, “-you’re home?” her head tilted.

“I could go get a hotel if I’m not invited.”

“Stop with the jokes,” said a timid smile, “-go have a shower, I’ll ready dinner, you’ve come home after a long time.”

“I thought I’d cook,” he said, “-keep watching the show, I’ll fix something.” A hallowed lonely feeling permeated the very large apartment. The stern red pupils returned to bicolor, the thoughts grew muddy – ‘-what’s happened to mother?’ the chopping board tapped, ‘-she seems desolate and sad, the face always has a reserved smile, isn’t there anything she wants. She sat at the television mindlessly, was what Fenrir said true, do I only care for myself. Wait, no, I know what sort of person I am, I just didn’t see how my actions affected the surrounding. I stand and make assumptions; none will bring us close to the truth. Look the apartment, we’re rich, she’s a queen of a whole kingdom, and yet, she’s not happy,’ multiple dishes laid onto the dinner table. He dropped by the living room, “-I’ll go have a shower, mother, please handle the salad?”

“Will do,” she replied with a lowered pitch.

Warm water washed the day’s troubles away, facing her head-on felt tedious and painful. The mind said to forgo emotions and ignore her plight, given the chance, he would have done the same. Seeing the bond of a loving family, the words Fenrir spoke, and the sudden urge for self-evaluation. They sat at the table and ate in relative silence. She’d smile and nod at the good food, meanwhile, he’d watch her response and exhale.

“Mother,” they reached halfway, “-tell me, is something the matter?”

Her mouth opened, the words choked at her throat and it shut, instead choosing to eat., “-mother,” he exhaled, “-if you don’t wish to talk, then I’ll remain silent.”

“It’s not that,” said she shyly, “-I don’t feel right, my body isn’t normal. Part of me knows my powers have grown, and then, another part of me says I’m weak, I have the whole weight of Arda on my shoulders. I’m scared to fly there since I was crowned, I haven’t once visited, left it to Elvira and the Blood-King’s faction. I’m a nervous wreck, the meeting with Hades’ thrown me for a loop. I have vivid dreams at times, feels like I’m going to break. I want to sleep forever, not wake up, not think, stand around in an empty room and wait for the end to arrive.”

“Is it that bad...”

“I don’t know,” she ate, “-what am I supposed to do, everyone’s working so far, I feel useless.”

“There’s no shame in that,” he said, “-mother, here’s the deal, I’ll watch over Arda until the motivation returns. Please, for my sake, take a vacation and explore the world, take a trip to Alphia and check on Elvira. Take Shanna with, she must miss her daughter.”

“A trip to Alphia, I don’t want to intrude on the Empres-”

“Yeah, hello, big sister,” he ignored her worried and instantly phoned ahead, “-is it alright if my mother visits?”

“Why this all of a sudden?” she inquired suspiciously.

“A change of pace,” he said, “-mother’s been very quiet, I want her to experience the Alphian beach. A few of her friends will tag along, who knows, maybe your mother will visit.”

“Mother?”

“Yes, you heard right.”

“Well, sure, I don’t mind.”

“I’ll have éclair forward the details, thank you for the favor.”

“No worries, it’s my pleasure. Speaking of favors, I have one to ask,” the tone lowered, “-I’ll send Loftha.”

“Her?”

“Yes, her, what’s with the change of mood. You know me, tis a two-way road, one woeful lady in exchange for another woeful girl.”

“You sly...”

“No, no,” she laughed, “-family helps one another.”

“Right, you win,” he gave, “-please take care of my mother, she’s been very sad, I want her to smile.”

“I will,” the call ended.

“Igna?” she matched with an envious look.

“You heard that?

“Yes, not like there was an attempt to hide the conversation.”

“I didn’t mean it maliciously.”

“Right...” a slight grin whelmed the frown. From there on, the dinner escalated in pace, she spoke, he listened, he spoke, she laughed and added a few jokes, the loneliness of the big apartment closed on itself, her mood lightened for the better. Later said night, a private plane from Alphia headed to Hidros. Meanwhile, preparation for lady Courtney’s voyage was met with a few guests. Before he knew it, a helicopter landed atop their apartment building, from it arrived Elvira, Serene, and Shanna. They met and laughed, taking away their responsibilities, the four-spoke to no ends. Retainers were strained, drinking commenced.

“What about you Shanna, how’ve the travels been?”

“I’ve learned much about the world,” her cheeks flushed, the strong smell of alcohol littered the living room, “-what of Serene, she still hasn’t found a man.”

“No, I have,” her eyes twitched, “-I slept with the young mas-” he covered her mouth, “-please ignore her words,” he said.

“Looks like your son’s been up to...” smirked Elvira.

“I’m going to bed,” he stood, “-have a good night, ladies.”

“Awe, he’s embarrassed,” laughed Shanna, “-good night,” waved Courtney.

‘Her mood’s gotten better,’ the cold bed laid in front, ‘-sleep,’ he dropped and instantly dozed off. Somewhere in the night, the half-asleep mind rose to a shuffle in his room, “-thank you for the trip,” said a whisper, “-I’ll take the time to focus on what is important and decide who I am. Good night, Igna,” she kissed his cheeks, “-my foolish son, I’m happy we’re family. Take care,” she patted his forehead, “-sleep well.”

.....

“Have a lovely journey,” he said, “-I love you, mom.”

“Love you too.”