When he came back up to the surface and sat at the edge of the serpent snapping turtle’s shell, Val approached to join him.

“Why did my mom never tell me that my father had died?” She could see why her mother neglected to tell her his identity or means of death—the current God Supreme killing him for being the previous God Supreme—but there was no reason why she could not have been informed about the simple fact that her father was deceased.

Frankly, it would have been easier growing up knowing that she had a dead father—one who loved her very much but whose soul had dearly departed to the Nether. Instead, Val had always thought that her godly father did not care about her or her family enough to bother paying a visit to the mortal world every so often. All of those hurt feelings of abandonment had caused Val to put up such thick barriers around herself in regards to her father.

She had never conceived the notion that her father might have been killed. Why would a demigoddess bother to imagine the possibility that her immortal father could be dead?

Tavras bobbed his head around in disconcerted understanding. “That is how your mother chose to raise you. I can’t say that I agree with it. Personally, I told Iharu and Fang that their parents had passed away when they were old enough to understand it well. Kierla likes to think that just because she can control fate, she can control everything. I abhor her overbearing parenting style like that.”

Pouting, Val could not understand why she had to have a controlling immortal for the woman who raised her. “I don’t understand.”

“You do have a hard time in understanding the old, complicated immortals,” Tavras said wryly.

“Honestly,” he admitted, “Kierla is a goddess kind of like me. She treads too close to fate just as I am entrenched too deeply into the ocean. She is not able to take certain mental pressures. I’m not a psychiatrist or anything, but I would bet the things that she sees in people’s fates drives her crazy, especially if she is not able to change it. She’s probably not able to comprehend that Baldu is dead.”

A long moment passed while Val let that sink into her brain. In doing so, she cross-referenced that to everything that she had known about her mother growing up.

For a goddess, her mother could never handle holding down basic jobs as a waitress, a gas station attendant, nor anything else she tried to do. Migraines would cripple her from daily tasks.

In addition to being an overly concerned mother, she always touched Val’s and Ross’s hair an obsessive amount. They had even shared a ritual of getting their hair brushed when they were kids. Come to think of it, a touch to the hair could be how the Demiweaver enacted her ability.

“I don’t know if I understand how she can ignore these basic things in reality. She’s the Demiweaver—”

“The Demiweaver is able to change people’s fates, but unless that person is right in front of her, she has no idea what is going to happen. I am sure that she had changed Baldu’s odds to give him the best fighting chance that he could have. Most likely, she is holding out hope that he might still be alive despite whatever she saw for his future,” Tavras said.

Her gaze cast downwards, most frustrated by the fact that Val had taken counsel from her mother just this morning.

Considering how her mother had not seen any of Val, Tavras, or Arius in a while, the Demiweaver had no way to assess any of their most recent fates. All of the information that she had received from her mother about Tavras and Arius had been nothing but conjecture then—really convincing conjecture, but a guess nonetheless.

Her mother liked Tavras. She did not like Arius. Her advice had been grounded on sentiments as basic as that. To think, Val had thought that something profound had underpinned her mother’s words.

Gritting her teeth together, Val wished that she had made the rebellious choice and stayed on the Summit with Arius in part. As much as she appreciated the proper alignment of her relationship with Tavras, she hated this ongoing feeling of being a puppet in which her mother played the role as puppeteer.

At least now Val new the most classic way to resist her mother if she did not want to be controlled. Just date Arius, her soulmate. Defiance could be as simple as that.

It was a dark thought given the abusive nature that he had demonstrated. Strangely enough, Val still felt less aversion to Arius now than she had moments ago.

“Well, Val,” Tavras said with a clap of his hands, “break time is over! You need to get back to working on your Forcefield.”

“You’re right.” Val said with a firm nod. She needed to actively train if she wanted to become stronger.

Standing up, her eyes blocked out the world.

Firstly, she took a brief moment to center herself before calling on her divine blood. When her aura came out, it solidified quicker than it had before. Something about breaking down the barriers with herself let her construct a stronger barrier on the outside. Clarity of mind enhanced her focus, and Val stood proud at the near clear wall of energy that she had produced.

Off to the side, rapid movement snapped her to full alert—ready to fight. A ball of water came hurling from Tavra’s hand.

Liquid splashed out around the shield in all directions like a water balloon had popped. Laughing, he hopped backwards whilst cheering, “You made a good shield! Let me help you practice more thoroughly.”

Val let her gloom evaporate like the water that Tavras drew back in for a second attack. Smiles peeled across both of their faces as they engaged in a training session with their abilities.

When she passed her days like this with Tavras, she knew that she could not be happier with any other mentor.