Mom

After getting the paper contracts, I was now the legal owner of Sophia and the guild couldn't take it from me, with legal reasons. So now it was time to do the second and last important thing, visiting mom.

It was only 2.30pm now, so I had a lot of time. I just ran to the forests' edge but then walked inside. I still didn't want to rush, now that I didn't have any more reasons to. I wanted to enjoy this moment, this excitement.

I was savoring and trying to remember every taste, every plant, every noise that I was hearing. I wanted to know every detail of this moment and remember them for the rest of my life.

How the wind was blowing herby smells to my nose, how the monsters and birds were making noises to find a mate or fight among each other. How the trees were greener than ever and the road as messy as always.

I got to enjoy these moments in peace, no one disturbed me, no beast, or no human. I got to walk with no interruptions. I was already near the place, that I first visited when I was seven, the lake.

It hadn't changed in any way. It was still surrounded by tall rocks like a hot spring and they were covered in moss and plants. I continued to walk towards my home. This place had not changed in any way for five years.

It was already 9pm when I came home and the sun was setting down. It was already dark outside. Then I saw it, my home. It was still the same as always.

Only one store, a tall door on the front, windows to see kitchen and made out of wood. I walked up to the door and knocked... I knocked again....

I tested and the door was open.

"Mooom, I'm homeeee!" I got no answer, was she outside? Was she making something to get money?

I walked around the house, everything was dusty, there were some spider webs and rats running around. How could they get inside? Mom cleaned all the time, that I was here.

I walked to my own room and like everything else, it was dusty. I still remember crawling on these floors, trying to find a book to read, training magic or simply trying to get mom's attention. How happy was I.

I walked to the library. It was still full of books. I guess, mom knew that I liked them and because of that, she didn't sell them.

I had read almost all of them, I picked one and scrolled it through. I remember, when I read it, it was when I was five. It was the last book on the lowest shelf so I read it to continue climbing higher.

It was a story of a boy, he was born to be the hero, but rather than that, he quit and married a demon princess. So called forbidden love, not my type of book but I still read it.

I put the book back on the shelf and guessed on what to do. I decided to wait for mom to come back. I sat on the kitchen table with a glass of water than Sophia made and waited.

Waited.....

And waited...

(*(

It's already pitch dark outside and mom had not come back. Where was she, did she get the date wrong, when I was returning. I decided to wait a little bit more.

(*(

Its already about 2am and I was still waiting. I then got an idea, what if she's sleeping? I had not checked the bedroom because I thought that it would invade her privacy. I walked up to the door and knocked...

No answer and I knocked again.... Again, no answer, so I just opened it carefully. It was empty too, but I noticed something on the table. It was a note, I picked it up and read.

'Ayden, if you're reading this letter, it means that you've survived safely for these five years, I'm so proud of you! However, you now might be confused and I'm going to explain everything to you.

A long time ago, I lived with my husband in this forest, we had a lovely daughter named Emma. We lived a happy life, working, having fun, and living as a family. It was all that I wished for.

However one night an orc raid happened. The guild raided a nearby orc tribe but one got away. It ran straight to Emma and my husband. They were killed that day. I was heartbroken, I didn't know what to do with my life when my happiness had been taken away from me.

My sorrow and sadness started to affect my magic. It started to change my body bit by bit into magic and I soon turned into a spirit with almost 500 years of life span.

After getting over my shock, I decided to look around the world. I learned and practiced to use a sword and magic. After that, I still had more than 400 years of time.

That day I was walking around the forest and stumbled upon this house, it was empty so I decided to borrow it. However, right when I stepped inside, I saw something. A baby, it was you Ayden.

You aren't my biological son. I found you here with a note and a book about your future and life. I looked at you with pity in my eyes and decided to do it. I first replaced your birth memory with the bottle next to you.

However, I couldn't do that, because I was a spirit. I looked at you and saw Emma in you. So my time went from 400 years in a spirit form to 14 years in a physical body.

I loved every moment of our time together, you reminded me of my daughter and I was happy to be given another 14 years to spend with her.

You might be sad, that I only took care of you because you reminded me of my daughter and how I tricked into leaving so I could have the final year to myself.

I don't mind if you hate me, but I loved you

Mom'

What was this? Why would she try to make a joke like this? I then noticed that the bed sheet wasn't smooth. There was something under it. I moved the sheet bit by bit until I saw it. It had brown hair and eyes were closed

There was no movement when it was laying down, it wore a simple night dress, like it was going on eternal sleep.

The only problem was that it was my mom.... laying there.... Dead....

Something happened inside of me and I did something, that I had not done in decades, I cried.

My eyes were open, staring at the corpse of my mother, that I had wanted to meet again for years. I wanted to meet her again, I wanted to talk to her again. I tried to find something. Some way to meet her again.

Maybe she is a spirit again? Yeah, you can't lose that many years of life span in that amount of time, it's just not possible. So maybe I need to do something to make her happy? If sadness made her a spirit, then happiness should turn her back.

What could now make her happy? I can't talk to her or something like that. Was there anything that made her sad and she needed revenge?

The Orcs... The monsters that made my mom feel miserable... I'll make her happy and she comes back to me... Yes.... That's good.

SOPHIA POV:

I'm scared. I had been with master for months and I had been having a great time. He was the man that my mother trusted to raise me well, and that's what he has been doing well. Every time, that I had seen him, he either had a cold or happy face.

Today he was super excited, we made a contract, and when we entered this strange house. He was more excited, than he had ever been and I also was looking for this, that made him behave like this.

However, we just stood still for hours, but then entered this strange looking room. I stayed in his pocket, because of the atmosphere. It was not the right time to come out.

He picked up a paper, read it and then lifted the bed sheet. Under it was a beautiful woman. Short brown hair and purple eyes like Master.

But when Master saw her, he started to cry. Did he know her? Was she important to her? I know how that feels and wanted to come out of his pocket to comfort him, but he started to act strangely.

First his pupils shrink. He started to glare out of the window and then at the paper. After this, he started to laugh and mumble something strange.

"Orcs, revenge, orcs, revenge, orcs....."

He laughed like humans right before death, when they were hunting down my mother.

It was the laugh of a person losing all rationality.