“Wha—wait,” she called after him, as she picked up speed to catch up with him. “You’re saying that woman is my mother?”
Roni nodded once more, “It was one of the reasons, she and Eris saw eye-to-eye they both suffered under the hand of time.”
“But she died.” Lanias exclaimed, only to lift a hand to her lips at the look Roni cast her. “I’m just accustomed to immortals being a bit more resilient.”
He scoffed, “You’ve met Zaharis right?”
“Yes, and hopefully sent him straight to Hell too.” She couldn’t stop the satisfaction that filled her voice. “But yes, his level of power was something different.”
“Yes, and your mother wasn’t in any place to fight him.”
They stepped outside and the mist she’d seen from her window was still there in the pockets of the rolling hills in the distance. They followed the path toward what she realized to be an annex building.
She heard some voices and spotted two girls walking from what looked like the forest at the edge of the land. “Are they like Fabian?”
Roni saw who she was looking at. “Only one of them, the other is the daughter of the family who manages the land.”
“Oh, does she want to live in the Human world or with Beings?” Lanias asked, her curiosity increasing at the thought.
“For now, she just hopes for a normal existence.” Roni answered, as they finally reached the double doors to the building. This was completely different from the rest on the estate.
Stepping to the side, he gave a short nod of his head. “Enter, and do not fear what happens after.”
“Oh, fear toward the unknown is for the weak,” she retorted. With that she grabbed the handle of the door and opened it. A bright light slipped out and covered her entire body; she was immediately sucked inside.
Stepping forward, Roni shut the door and walked away.
Lanias lifteda hand to cover her eyes from the bright light that surrounded her. She hadn’t expected such a strong transportation magic spell. Her skin pebbled with goosebumps as the white light slid from her skin, until she was able to make out a shape of someone standing opposite of her.
When she fully lowered her hand, and her eyes adjusted she found herself finally able to make sense of what she was seeing. A young woman, or what appeared to be a young woman, stood near an opened window. Her hand was placed on the windowsill, and her eyes on something below.
Her hair was a thick mass of coiled curls, pulled back in a low ponytail. She wore a loose-fitting dress; her feet were bare, and her other hand was lightly pressed on her rounded stomach. Her chestnut skin was interrupted by freckles that were dashed across her nose, and arms.
“Eris tells me, I should stop worrying about the future,” she said, almost absentmindedly.
Lanias stood motionless, once the other woman turned to face her, she saw that their eyes were a similar color of midnight.
“I’ve been dreaming so many things, from your first steps to your first words. Yet, in each dream it’s as if you’re just out ofreach and distant.” Her lips curved up. “I’m not watching you physically. I’m watching you from above.”
Lanias didn’t think of herself as a sentimental person, but she felt her chest constrict as a wealth of bittersweet emotion overwhelmed her. “You’re not.”
That was the only thing she could squeeze out past the tightness in her throat.
“Ah, I thought so,” she said, pulling her hand from the window, turning around to fully face her. “From your expression, you probably just recently found out about me.”
Again, Lanias was only able to nod. The woman who was looking at her with gaze full of love was her true mother.
“My name, do you know it?”
“No.”
“It’s Anais, long ago I was a priestess and that name was bestowed upon me,” she said, closing the space between them. She stopped an arms distance from Lanias, who was trying to keep her emotions from showing on her face. “You, what were you named?”
Lanias averted her eyes, feeling them begin to burn. Her chest was so full of words she’d wanted to say but couldn’t.
Not yet.
She’d found what she’d been looking for, but it was too much.
