Chapter 6: Fathers Grave

“Hey, Zone! Where are you guys going?” Sol asked, running up to them.

“Hey! I wasn’t finished talking with you!” Rose said.

“Sol, it’s rude to just end a conversation randomly.” Zone said, engrossed in explaining part of his book with Mom and Aria.

Sol sulked.

“Fine, you’re right. Sorry, Rose.” Sol said.

Rose sighed.

“At least try to pay attention to your behavior. You’ve started to get lazy. You're the hero, for gods sake.” Rose said.

“Well, there’s nothing to do except laze around.” Sol complained.

“Then train. Practice makes perfect. I don’t mind going a few rounds with you.” Rose said, cracking her knuckles and grinning.

“Wouldn’t the best person to train Sol be Mom?” Aria asked.

Sol and Rose looked at Aria, confused.

“What do you mean by that? What could be better practice than training with a dragon?” Rose asked.

“Hey, Mom. I’m right, aren’t I? Wouldn’t you be the best choice?” Aria asked.

Mom thought for a minute.

“All right, I guess that’s true. I’ll train you for the rest of your stay, Sol. That’s until around noon tomorrow, right?” Mom asked, relenting.

“What? Are you saying that I should fight your mom?” Sol asked, pointing at her with disbelief.

“Does this answer your question?” Mom asked, focusing her mana towards Sol.

The jade pendant Sol carried began to glow.

“It recognizes me still, I guess.” Mom said, as the pendant floated over to her, dropping into her open palm.

Sol stared, rubbing her eyes in surprise.

“That… The jade pendant only recognizes one who has been chosen as hero to control it, right?” Sol asked, counting on her fingers, so baffled that she thought math equations could actually apply to the situation. She also didn't even solve a single one accurately.

“That’s correct. Though you don’t seem to be from the same world as me, unfortunately. I wanted to know how things were going on that side.” Mom pouted.

“You-you-you-YOU’RE A HERO?!?!” Sol screamed, at the top of her lungs.

“Yes, that’s absolutely correct. I’m the one who dealt with the demon king previously.” Mom said.

Sol counted on her fingers some more, doing actual math this time.

“Wasn’t that centuries ago?” Sol asked, remembering what she had been taught from the history books.

“Apparently it was. In our final battle, we broke through time. We arrived here around 23 years ago. Our life has been peaceful ever since. It was a miracle. Something I can never be thankful enough for. It makes me ecstatic!” Mom said, dancing happily, lost in her memories.

“What? Peaceful? Our? I also never heard of any battle with a demon king 23 years ago.” Sol said.

“We fell in love before we knew anything about each other, and I learned who he was about a year later, in the middle of a blood soaked battlefield, caused by a large-scale battle. I couldn’t tell who was more devastated.” Mom said sadly.

“How are you here, then?” Sol asked.

“He worked that entire time on developing a way to break our fate. He succeeded in his efforts, at the very last moment, right before my sword was about to pierce his heart. I can’t tell you how surprised I was... Or how much I cried, when he told me what happened. I can still feel him holding me in his arms as the tears fell, dropping from my eyes, whenever I think back.” Mom said, putting her hand on top of her head and smiling.

Her bottom mouth quivered, and her eyes squeezed shut. Her legs almost gave out.

“He used to pet me all the time, just like this.” She almost cried.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and shook her head.

She stood up straight.

"Mom..." Zone said.

“No. It’s already been 9 years since the accident. I’m fine, don’t worry.” She said, brushing off Zone, who was trying to comfort her.

“Sol. I’ll be training you. Alright?” Mom asked, trying to steady herself.

Sol looked at her, in awe.

“You’re a legend… right in front of me… a living legend, someone revered as a messenger of god is standing right in front of my eyes...I must be dreaming.” Sol mumbled, not even noticing that her idol had almost broken down into a sobbing mess.

Her mind was focused on one thing.

The Hero.