Chapter 3100 Haunting Past (Part 2)

'Something like this happened only after she got her Fury back from Bytra and honestly, a signature doesn't seem such a big deal to me. I wonder what's the issue.'

***

Solus was sitting on her bed, staring blankly at the walls of her room in the tower. Her bedroom in the Mansion was bigger and more luxurious but too close to the rest of her family for her comfort.

After retrieving another piece of her past and acquiring a sample of Menadion's handwriting, Solus needed some time to think. The Mansion was lively and vibrant with the voices of its residents, something she usually loved but that she couldn't take right now.

It reminded her of everything she had and lost as Elphyn.

"By my Mom, I feel so stupid." She said while rocking her body back and forth. "I should be used to this by now. Then why does it hurt so much?"

"Mama!" Elysia said with a giggle, trying to cheer Solus up.

She wasn't aware of being part of the problem and tried to fix it to the best of her abilities.

"Thanks, baby girl, but don't say this in front of Kami or she's going to get angry with me." Solus took Elysia from her crib and held the baby girl tight to her chest. "Gods, who would ever believe that someone so adorable could cause so much pain?"

Elysia had learned a few words and took notice of the effects they had on people when she spoke them but she still had difficulty associating them to a precise meaning. To Elysia, Mom, Mommy Solus, Grandma, and Granpa meant all the same thing.

I love you.

Only the word "Dya" was clear in her mind and only because Leegaain had drilled it in her mind since conception. "Ba" also was pretty easy, allowing her to express her disappointment in anything and anyone.

As for Solus, her affection toward Elysia had only grown stronger with time yet it was also the root of her current problem. Whenever Solus looked at the baby girl, she saw herself.

The hair, the magical talent, the parents, everything was a punch to the gut that triggered her old memories almost every day. Just like Elphyn, Elysia had one parent of incredible magical might while the other was a simple human who had Awakened for her sake.

"Elphyn, Elysia." Solus sighed while looking at the baby's light brown eyes. "Sometimes I can't help but think that you've been named after my old life instead of Mom."

"Da!" Elysia replied, dazzled by the colored sparkles that appeared on Solus' hair whenever hit by light.

"I'm so scared, baby girl." Solus held Elysia tight again and she exploited the opportunity to suck on the shiny hair. "Scared that you are going to end up like me. You don't know it, but the shadow of death is always looming around your father as well.

"Meln, Lith's broken life force, Guardianhood, and all the shot that happens whenever someone tries to farm us in the alps for a petty reason. I could take it, back when it was just us. I mean me, Lith, and Kami. But now?"

She lifted the baby up to look at her while pretending to play. Elysia giggled, her prize still in her mouth.

"Now I'm terrified of what I'm going to do with you if something happens to Lith. Of having to find a way to tell you that you won't see your father ever again. I don't want you to end up like Elphyn or for Kami and me to end up like Menadion.

"No one deserves that kind of pain." Solus' eyes fell on Ripha's autograph which was now framed and hung on the wall in front of her bed and started to sniffle. "No one but Meln, of course."

"Wa?" Elysia was unsettled by Solus' sadness and even more by the mention of her father. "Dya?"

"Daddy is fine, don't worry." Solus said.

'For now.' She inwardly added.

Elysia didn't seem convinced, losing interest in the hair and feeling the need to check on Lith.

A knock on the door made Solus yelp and Elysia cry.

"Is everything alright, Solus?" Raaz's voice came from the other side. "Dinner is almost ready. Are you sure you don't want to eat? A good meal makes wonders for the mood. Your mother has given her all, hoping you would change your mind."

"Come in, Dad." Solus knew she wasn't a Verhen by blood.

Yet after learning that they had raised her along with Lith since he was five, Elina and Raaz considered themselves Solus' adoptive parents and demonstrated their love for her with their actions every day.

It warmed her heart, no matter how bad a day was.

"I've heard you went through quite some emotions today." Raaz entered cautiously, like he expected the room, Solus, or both, to shatter at any moment. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"Dya?" Elysia repeated with a begging tone.

"No, sweetheart, I'm not your father." Raaz beamed with joy and went to hold and kiss the baby girl. "I'm your grampa. Daddy is in the other room, cooking for Mommy Solus with the rest of the family."

"Dya!" Between Raaz's cheerfulness and the confidence of his tone, Elysia stopped worrying.

"Not Dya. Say Grandpa. Gapa. Adya." Raaz spoke the Dragontongue word for grandfather with a snort, his annoyance at Leegaain burning with the intensity of a thousand suns. "Whatever comes easier."

"Adya!"

"Let's go with that." He sighed. "What about that talk, Solus?"

"Uhm…" She scratched her neck, trying to find a polite way to turn down the offer.

Then her eyes fell on the signature again. The figure of Raaz embracing Elysia overlapped with that of Threin and Elphyn and Solus broke down.

She told him everything while holding back her tears to not scare the baby girl. Her voice cracked and faltered, her eyes turned watery, but she soldiered through with sheer willpower.

"I'm really sorry for you, Solus." Raaz hugged her after letting Elysia down on the bed. "And I'm even sorrier for what I'm about to tell you, but you need to hear it. You are being very stupid and very selfish."

"How can you say that?" His words stung her heart and she tried to push Raaz away.

Yet he didn't let go of her and Solus couldn't risk putting more strength and hurting him.

"I'm worried about Lith and Elysia. How can that be stupid and selfish?" She asked.

"Do you really think you are the only one?" Raaz held her tighter, caressing her head. "I lost both my parents less than a year after marrying Elina. Elina lost hers when she was a little over fourteen and we both have already lost two sons.

"Do you have any idea how scary it was for us when we reached the same age our respective parents had at the moment of their death? Do you think we weren't worried about leaving our children alone just like it had happened to us?"

Solus could sense the pain in Raaz's voice only thanks to his closeness and her Awakened instinct. Otherwise his voice would have sounded calm and soothing.