novelraw Chapter 104: A Mother's Scolding
Chapter 104: A Mother's Scolding
"Did Diana drink my blood while I was asleep?"
The thought hit me out of nowhere.
Staring at the ceiling for a second, I hugged myself and pretended to cry.
"I feel… violated," I said, not really meaning my words.
She must've. I doubt she drank anyone else's blood. She's utterly addicted to the taste of me by this point. Seeing as a vampire hunter hasn't come to kill her yet, no one found out about it.
Sinking back into my pillow, I unlocked my phone and called my mother's number.
An hour later, the room was louder now.
Even though this wasn't the time for a visitation from a large group, it seemed that the rule didn't apply to an Agnus because my family was here.
Standing near the foot of the hospital bed, exhaustion was etched into the faces of both of my parents.
When's the last time that they slept?
Their eyes were red, probably from crying on their drive here. I did not doubt that if it wasn't for the fact that they were bringing their two daughters along, both of them would've dashed to the hospital on foot.
Speaking of the two daughters, there were two small weights pressed against my chest.
My little sisters.
Rubi and Eloise.
Both are five years old. Well, Rubi is five. Eloise's age is unknown, but we registered her as five on her ID to match Rubi's age.
When she arrived, Rubi was the first one to launch herself at me. She rammed into my body and was crying. Well — more like screaming.
Her little fists pounded uselessly against my chest until she got tired.
"You're stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" she yelled. "Big brother is stupid! Stupid!"
"Ow… hey, be gentle," I fake-winced. My arms were wrapped around. "Your big bro is a patient right now. I'm fragile, you know. Are you trying to keep me here longer?"
That didn't help as she only proceeded to hit me again.
"Don't joke like that!" she screamed before burying her face into my shoulder. "I thought you were dead!"
"...I'm sorry," I said quietly, trying to soothe her with a soft voice. I slowly ran my hand through her hair.
On the other side of the bed was Eloise who climbed onto the bed more carefully.
She didn't cry.
She didn't yell.
Pressing herself against me, she closed her eyes and rested her head on my chest as if she was listening to my heartbeat, confirming that I was real.
Her small hands gripped my hospital gown.
The two of us were practically real siblings by this point, so seeing her act like this hurt.
The combination of both sisters' reactions made me feel like garbage.
"...Hey, Ellie," I called her by her nickname. "I'm okay."
She nodded once but didn't say anything and continued lying there, ear to my heart.
Unable to rush to my side because of the two little girls, my mother's hands twitched. She wanted to pull me into a hug but refrained from doing so.
"Are you in pain?" she asked me. "Do you feel dizzy?"
"No."
"Are you hungry?"
"The nurse brought me food half an hour ago."
"Thirsty."
"She got me water as well."
"Tell us if you feel anything strange going on with your body. Tell us. We have to deal with it before it can get worse. We're at the best hospital in the city. I'll spend whatever it takes to heal you, so don't worry. Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, Momma," I reassured her. "Really. I'm okay. My body feels a little sore, but other than that… I'm in tip-top shape."
Nodding his head, my father said, "The healers and the doctors both said all you need is rest. Your mana circuits were under extreme strain, but they recovered quite nicely on their own."
Then my mother continued to ask questions.
Was I cold?
Did anything hurt?
Could I move my leg?
Is my vision okay? Are my senses working?
Do I remember everything?
That one — I had to lie a little bit.
Answering their questions as best they could, the tension in the room began to loosen.
Rubi's loud crying had softened into small sniffles. Eloise's steady breathing could be felt on my chest.
For a brief moment, things were peaceful.
But that's never a good sign. That's like storytelling 101. If something is peaceful, it's just the calm before the storm.
And as I expected, everything flipped.
My mother had been so caring, crying because she was sad, smiling because I was awake — but all of a sudden, her expression changed.
Relief drained away from her eyes and was replaced by anger.
"Why didn't you run away?!" she demanded, shaking her hands to emphasise how stupid I was.
The room went quiet as my two little sisters ceased all of their noise and sat up to look at our mother.
Eloise was the first to get out of bed. Rubi followed shortly after, running into our father's arms.
"...Mom?" I said carefully as she took a step towards me. "Mom? Momma? Momma?!"
Her index finger and thumb twisted my ear. Because she was a superhuman just like me, a stronger one than me, it felt so painful. It was as if my ear was about to come off.
"Why?! Why?! Why?!" she repeated, voice trembling. "Why did you stay and fight something like that?! You could've escaped! I know about that artifact you have that lets you teleport! You should have run away!"
"I—"
"You're a student," she continued, her voice a little softer. Tears were spilling down her face again. "Yes, you are strong. Yes, you have defeated a demon in the past and even a black arts user. But you're still a student. You're not a soldier. You're not a hero yet. You're a studen and you're my stupid son. What were you thinking putting your life on the line like that?!"
I could see Rubi flinching at the tone and she buried her face into our father's arms.
Eloise had walked over to the window and took a seat in the chair that faced it. She was literally staring out of the window, pretending not to know what was going on behind her.
Cyro! Where are you?! Help!
He wasn't with us at the moment because he had returned to his mission and hadn't seen or responded to either of my parents' texts yet.
"I… I didn't really have time to think about it," I said quietly, lying.
"That's not a good enough answer," she snapped, twisting my other ear. Double ear-twister 3000!
"What if you died?" she asked. "What were we supposed to then?! Are you just going to leave your two sisters with only one older brother?!"
I swallowed.
"...I'm sorry," I said again. "I just… I couldn't leave everyone behind. I could've run away, but the guilt of abandoning my friends and classmates would've eaten at me for the rest of my life. Even if it meant putting my life on the line, I would do it again. Over and over."
The words coming out of my mouth were nothing more than sweet lies.
I just wanted to acquire clout and rack up another achievement to my name. Bring me a step closer to my goal.
My mother went silent for a second, then opened her mouth to continue.
But before another word could come out, my father placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Honey, that's enough for now," he said gently.
My mother froze and looked back at him.
"Our boy is alive," he continued. "That's what matters right now. We can scold him later when we're home. For now, let's drop his ears…"
He carefully pried her fingers off my ears.
…Thank you Dad!
Mother looked at me one more time and a variety of emotions appeared on her face: anger, relief, happiness, fear, and sadness.
Then she wiped her face and nodded before turning away.
Father gave me a wink.
He clapped his hands once and said, "Come in."
The door opened and Jerman stepped inside.
Jerman?
In his hands was Gon. My trusted sword and artifact.
The sword looked untouched. It was cleaned and was carefully wrapped in its usual bandages that were coated in mermaid tears.
He approached the bed and held it out to me with both hands.
My father said, "During the aftermath, Jerman searched around and dug this out of the rubble. He remembered how you kept it, so we kept it safe for you while you were asleep."
Reaching out for the sword, the moment my fingers wrapped around the hilt, I smiled.
Gon was still asleep, but it felt nice just knowing that the artifact was back in my hands.
"Thanks," I said.
Jerman nodded once, then stepped back out of the room.
The next morning came and I hadn't slept yet. Convinced by my mother, Diana and Ichiko went home. According to her, the two of them had been by my side the entire time I was asleep. They only left the room to shower and get food.
My family were staying in the room with me, and they were asleep as the sun poked its head out of the horizon. My parents were sleeping on the couch that could be made into a bed.
In between them were my two sisters. The golden-white-haired Rubi and the pink-haired Eloise.
I was in the middle of responding to some text messages and looking at social media to see what people had to say about me when I saw a face in the glass of the door.
"Cyro," I smiled.
He carefully opened the door and tiptoed over to me.
He was trying his hardest not to wake them up.
"Hey there idiot," he smiled, digging a knuckle into the side of my head. "Good to see you up."
"Hey," I said, trying to pull my head away from him, but to no avail.
"Listen. Although I want to stay longer and talk to you, maybe scold you, a few praises here and there," he laughed, "I have to leave soon. The First Order needs my presence, and I took a quick break just to be here."
"Thanks."
He smiled and nodded as if it was natural. It's what brothers do, he was essentially gesturing.
"But before I dip, let me give you this."
He reached behind his back and pulled out another Warrior Elixir.
"...H-How?" I asked, baffled.
Cyro shrugged and said, "Your older brother is built differently. The day that I was born, the stars aligned and the heavens—"
"Shut up," I chuckled, cutting him off.
I looked at the elixir in my hand for a moment.
"Thank you," I said as I wrapped an arm around his body and gave him a sidehug.
This was perfect. There was another demon core waiting to be consumed.
Now… the only problem is how am I going to get it? I'm assuming the Headmistress took it from the pile of ashes.