Parental Sneak Attack

Oh crap! I thought, my gaze locking with Haven's as my heart began to race. Parental sneak attack! I should have seen this coming! It's my parents' bedroom all over again!

Turning my head once more towards the threshold that my companions had exited, I watched as two more of the Thantossa family polycule entered the room and sat at the table. Already armoured, the musclebound Jette, with his fiery hair and golden eyes, sat beside me, now flanking Ellis to my right. The second member, a green-haired woman wearing a pyjama set, took her seat beside Haven. Though she was awake this time, it was hard not to recognize Kai, the fifth wife and human lie detector.

At the sight of her, my already racing heart picked up, moving into a higher gear as adrenaline surged through me. I entered fight-or-flight mode, beginning my search for an escape from this situation. But none presented itself to me. Only a few members of the family were now missing, and before long, I would become truly trapped.

“No need to panic," Kai spoke to me softly, undoubtedly picking up on my racing heart. "We're just here to—oooh, breakfast ale.”

I watched nervously while she and Jette began to fill their mugs and plates. And as they began their breakfast, Haven rested back in her chair, eyes locked with mine. In all that time, her expression had not changed, remaining as unimpressed as before.

"Go on, Oracle." She hissed, grabbing her mug and taking a sip. "Talk."

Hesitating, I struggled to find the words to answer her. As I stammered, allowing my vision to sweep across the table, I noted each parent and their different levels of attention to the unfolding situation. While some, like Rowan, appeared disinterested in the conversation, those like Haven watched me intently.

“Umm," I began weakly, unsure why this group of individuals intimidated me so much. "Well, we reached Tahvinstead in the late—”

“No,” Haven cut me off, her hand slicing through the air as she stopped me from continuing. “You are Kalish-nik. You stole that boy's body—his future. Tell me of your past life, Tahvin, and what gives you the right to a second chance. Why do you deserve to be here instead of him?”

At that, I looked between Haven and Kai. It was no mystery that if I lied, I would be found out, but the question remained of how much my companions had already divulged to their protective parents. Opting to take a safer route, I decided to keep my past passions a secret for the time being while remaining as forthcoming as possible.

“Truthfully, I don’t think I deserve a second chance,” I replied honestly, catching Haven off guard.

Watching Kai as she smirked from behind the rim of her mug, I listened to Wren chuckle farther down the table. Haven glanced at Kai, who did little to react to my remark, frustrating the first wife. A low murmur of conversation erupted as the parents appeared to agree that my response was unexpected but appreciated.

At least my self-depreciation got me somewhere. I thought before continuing.

“I wasn’t Kalish," I added to the previous statement. "As you all likely know, I’m from another world where places like this are nothing but fairytales. This reality, your reality, couldn’t be farther from real for me. Nothing more than fiction and fantasy. I despise that Phyllis manipulated the parents of this dying child into signing his soul away for eleven more years of his life. Then she orchestrated summoning me here, ripping me from my world without my consent and placing my soul into Ishara. I thought it was wrong from the moment I got here and still think it is, but here we are.”

Haven once again looked to Kai, who gave another nonchalant shrug as she filled her mouth with savoury foods before adding ale to wash it down. Once again, the first wife did not appear impressed by my explanation. Releasing a huff, she directed her gaze away from the lie detector and back to me.

“Well, that’s not exactly what I expected to hear, " Haven revealed, adjusting herself in her seat before leaning forward. “And why did the lich choose you? What did you do in your world that was so special you needed to be brought here? To this moment in time?”

Watching the woman's posture shift as she spoke made me wonder if Rionriv’s questioning style came from Haven and not the Matriarch Paethia. Her drive to get answers, meeting every response with two more questions, reminded me of the sorceress. Reminded me that she was currently hurting, and I wasn't with her. That she was the only one I really should have been answering to at this moment.

I need to end this conversation so I can go to her. So I can fix this.

With a soft breath and a subtle shake of my head, I centred myself to continue. Regardless of who Rionriv gained her interrogation style from, if I were to get the chance to speak with her again, I would need to first survive her mother. Glancing at Kai, I knew this next bit would be complicated. But I felt that, at the very least, if I had been comfortable enough with Rionriv and Aesandoral to tell them the truth, then their parents may as well fall into the larger circle.

“Because I was an author,” I spoke plainly, looking at Kai as she stopped eating and looked up at me. "And I shaped this reality with my words."

The woman's eyes narrowed as she stared me down. I could see her tiny ears flexing as Aesandoral's did as her eyes carefully inspected my face for tells. Swallowing the food in her mouth, she exhaled a soft breath. I knew she could tell that I was being truthful.

“Either those Fliant beings scrambled his brains," She explained softly, taking the nearby stein once more into her hand for another drink. "Or he’s being honest, because he believes it.”

“So what our little ebony kitten told us was the truth.” Rowan cooed from their end of the table as they looked at me longingly. “The Princess, the Duchess and the God-boy, what a delicious start to a harem.”

“Erm—not a god,” I quickly leaned forward to get a better look at the figure's lilac face. “I’m not a god, and we’re not a harem.” 

Shifting to look at the rest of the table, I cleared my throat and stood. If I was going to have the chance to see Rionriv and apologize, I needed to escape this situation.

“To answer your first question, Haven," I continued firmly as I locked my gaze on hers. "Concerning my journey to this point? I lived a life of joyless opulence and mental struggle. My life, Tahvin's existence, was always one of contradictions. For every good thing that ever happened to me, I lost more than I ever stood to gain."

Haven's look hardened as she eyed me closely. I could see the way she focused on my lips, and the moment she shifted to look into my eyes. There was no sympathy in her gaze, merely observation. All this moment was to her was an inquisition.

"His life," I went on, turning my gaze towards the other parents. "My life was one of being berated, abused, taken advantage of, and tossed aside. I was forgotten by friends, family, and loved ones. In the end, I had no one at my side. In fact, the only person who ever loved me—me and not what I could do for them—died suddenly. She took with her our unborn child, leaving me truly alone, and what was worse was that there was nothing I could have done to prevent it."

My eyes locked with Rowan's, who stared my way. Out of everyone at the table, the devilkin looked the most human in that moment. Tears flowed from their merlot eyes as they listened to me speak. I could see the heartbreak on their face, a look that only they wore. Unfortunately, they weren't the parent I was trying to convince.

So," Turning back to Haven, I locked once more with her stern gaze. "To make life worth living, I wrote a story and kept it close to my heart. I filled it with so much pain, and loss, and hope, and hate. I filled it with every piece of me that I couldn't show the world. So am I worthy of a second life here on Esseria? After all the hell I put it and its people through? Absolutely not. But did I get another chance to make an impact on this world? Yes."

At this, I saw Haven's stoic expression falter ever so slightly. Nothing more than a twitch of her lips, but it was nonetheless something. Something that I would take away with me when I expected nothing from the guardian.

"You may not like," I began to finish, stepping back from my chair and returning it to the table's edge. "And you may not like me. But I'm here now, and nothing will change that. I made this world, and while I can't do much to change its fate, I will do everything I can to keep this world moving towards a happy ending. And I will do that with the help of your daughters' triop of amazing heroines."

The dining hall fell silent as everyone held their breath, waiting for me to continue. But I wouldn't give them more of my time, nor would I stand around waiting for their reply. Turning from the table, I began to step away, delivering my final message to the 'adults' in the room.

"Anyways, sorry if I ruined your breakfast. I think I’ll see myself out.”

Without another word, I exited the dining space in the direction of Rionriv’s bedroom. As I left, I didn’t turn back, nor did the collection of adults ask me to remain. Though what I did hear as the doors closed behind me was the murmur of their discussion quickly beginning. Rowan's voice seemed to be the loudest as Wren attempted to calm them. But it wasn't their opinion of me that interested me.

Retracing my steps from earlier, I moved through the halls towards Rionriv’s room. I paused at the threshold of the space where I listened for a moment to the voices of the triop talking amongst themselves within. Having learned my lesson from before, I gently knocked on the door and spoke loud enough to be heard.

“Ri?” I announced myself. "C-Can I come in?"

“Go away!” Her curt response echoed through the door. "I don't want to see you!"

“Ri—" I could hear Aesandoral snap from behind the barrier, her voice immediately followed by a loud sigh from Rionriv.

“What?” Rionriv begrudgingly asked after a moment of quiet. "What do you want?"

The sound of hatred in her voice stabbed at my chest like a dagger. My heart broke as the realization dawned on me that there was nothing I could say or do that would make the sorceress want to see me. I longed for nothing more than to break down the door and make her understand that I wasn't her enemy. That I just wanted to be her friend. To have the opportunity to explain myself to her. 

But, having Tahvin's memories of rejection and abandonment filling the void I felt, I believed that being present in her life at that moment was only making things worse. So, pushing down my pain, I cleared my throat as I went through with the only option I thought I had left.

“H-hey, so, I’m-I'm going to head back to Dwindlefyre,” I finally managed to say, placing the small leather purse of the sorceress's earnings at my feet before resting my head against the door. “I should have given you space. Look, umm, I’m leaving your earnings from the mission right here. And,—erm—I wanted to say that-that we all talked about going to a concert one day. Fearnechella is coming up this next week and, like, there’s no pressure, but I’m going to do it. I think it would be a good way to unwind...”

I waited for a moment, listening to the silence on the other side of the door.

“Okay.” Rionriv eventually replied apathetically.

“So,” I continued after a pregnant pause. “I’m going to rent out that wing again, and if you three want to join, there’ll be rooms for you. Umm—so, anyway, bye. And...” 

I paused for a moment, struggling to find the words to add before deciding to keep it simple.

“Ri, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything.”

Not wanting to take another moment of the triop's time, I left. At least, that was what I told myself to keep my feet moving forward. In reality, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to cause any more pain than I already had or wait any longer for a response. I left because I knew if I held my ground a second longer, I wouldn't have had it in me to leave at all. And for that reason, I departed, exiting the manor and Goodshore without looking back.