Chapter Seventeen

Elysia eyed the whip in her sister's hands but by the way Sereia clutched it she knew she wasn't getting it back. Not that she had a use for it. Hopefully Sereia put it to good use.

After a scan of the boss room finding nothing of interest so she walked toward the coffin and dropped down. Her family followed her lead, jumping into the coffin one by one.

Congratulations! You are the second to conquer the forsaken town!

The Forsaken Town: First Conquered by Elysia Arashi, May 20 AS 1

In midair, Sereia gave her a raised brow at the message but didn’t say anything as the water approached.

The moment they splashed into the underground lake, Elysia grabbed onto Ione as to not fall behind. As she expected, Sereia was in mermaid mode.

Elysia pointed toward the tunnel. Not that she had to, as it was the only tunnel within sight. Far faster than she could ever swim, they broke the surface in the once bay no lake.

Without saying anything, Sereia gravitated toward the harbor soaring out of the water. When she touched down on the mossy pier, she was back on two feet. As if on autopilot, she walked down the pier, then stopped at the only open parking spot. She stared down with a complicated look joined by Elysia, who also recognized the spot.

Despite wanting to ask about their father, Elysia remained silent as Sereia stared off into space for several seconds in silence before abruptly walking away in the street’s direction. Not that one could tell a street was there with all the trees.

Like they did countless times growing up, they walked down the street toward their family home. If one could call pavement with a tree speared through it every meter a road. They remained silent on the voyage, though mostly because Elysia was fighting back the urge to ask about their father. It was an odd feeling. On one hand, she felt an instinctive understanding he was all right, maybe even happy, but she still wanted to know more.

Soon, the tree speared paved road turned into a tree speared gravel road. A flashback to the last time Elysia traveled the road caused her to giggle. Thinking back, it was truly absurd she escaped zombies in her father’s truck, naked. Of course, she didn’t think that at the time.

How things have changed. Why did she think it was a good idea to sleep naked after escaping zombies, anyway? She really was dumb back then, not that she wouldn’t make dumb mistakes in the future. Hopefully not like that, though.

Sereia glanced at her sister’s half amused and half mortified expression as she giggled but just shook her head.

Soon they turned down a barely visible driveway. Even though they lived there their entire life, they nearly missed it.

A short walk later, they entered a clearing strangely devoid of the encroached forest, other than the two redwoods sprouted on either side of their family home. Both of them released a sigh of relief at the same time as they stared at the unharmed house. At least unharmed from the merge, not so much from time as they didn’t have the money to keep it looking pristine over the years.

Looking back, it was a marvel their father supported both of them while working freelance handyman jobs between fishing trips.

Tears bubbled up as she thought back to the last time she saw him. She had waved at him as he parked his truck, then she took off on her run, which would be the last run of her mundane life.

Right where their father always parked, Elysia materialized his truck though she frowned as she stared at the crunched wreck.

Suddenly, water enveloped the truck, followed by popping sounds as sheet-metal snapped back into its designed shape. However, the water could do nothing about the smashed taillights and windows, but it at least resembled a truck now.

Elysia sent her twin a thankful smile, but worry formed as she saw her sister swaying, eyes clenched closed as if to stave off a headache. In a flash, she was beside her twin, supporting her as they walked toward the house.

Instead of answering the front door, she guided her twin around back through the rear door, then sat her at their little dining room table just big enough for their former family of four. Not that they had a ton of memories of their mother, but the ones they did have were the happiest they remembered their father ever being. He wasn’t gloomy around them, but in a small house, it was hard to hide things.

Elysia sat on her usual chair and watched her twin intently with Ione laying at her feet barely fitting under the table.

Fortunately, Sereia recovered soon after, though a hint of exhaustion remained present. “Precise magic is hard. Much easier to blast things away with a wave of water.”

Without much experience with precise magic as her lightning was pretty much all blasting things away, she just nodded her head in understanding.

Her eyes drilled into her twin, willing her to continue speaking, which succeeded. “You know after your death he broke, not that I was doing much better. It was like he gave up on life. I think he left his room a handful of times the entire week, each time just to check on me as I hid away in my room. Really, the house felt just as empty as it does now.”

Sereia’s expression turned complicated halfway between a smile and confusion. “He was so excited the night of the merge he practically dragged me out of bed and out the door. We didn’t even take the truck saying you would need it when you returned. I just followed him in a mind fog as he marched down the street to the harbor with an energy of a man possessed.”

Sereia paused to take an unneeded, shuttered breath, more to gather her thoughts. “The closer we got to the harbor, the more energetic he was. He kept going on about finally reuniting with her and about you returning. In my depressed fog, I missed most of his rambling, but one thing that stuck with me was his conviction everything he said was the truth. I suppose in hindsight some of it really was true, like you returning, though I’m not sure about the rest.”

When her sister fell silent, Elysia prodded, “What happened to him?”

“How do you think I turned into a mermaid? Daddy took the family fishing boat out into the ocean while continuing to rave on repeat about reuniting with mother and you returning. When the water turned rough, we were too far out to escape, not that he made any attempt to. It was like he was suicidal, but not. He was convinced he was right where he needed to be. The last thing I remember before waking up on the water elemental ship was a massive wave looming over us while a blue moon bathed us in light.”

Almost against her will, Elysia’s gaze gravitated toward the window, but since it was day, there was no chance she could see the moon, even if she had a clear view through the dense forest. When she returned her attention to her sister, she found her twin also looking in the direction of where they knew the moon would be by some unnatural force.

A shiver ran through her as she suddenly felt they weren’t alone in the house, but none of her senses picked up on anything. The house was just as silent as a dungeon. In fact, that alone sent another shiver through her.

No longer wanting to stay long, Elysia shot to her feet mirrored by her sister, whose wide eyes gave away she felt the same as her.

Before they could take a step, the house turned unnaturally cold, then just as quick a comforting warmth took over washing away their panic though the act induced more panic only for that too to unravel. Their tense muscles loosened as a ghostly image of two people appeared in front of them.

Even in their unnaturally relaxed state, they instantly recognized both of them, though younger than they remembered. On the right was their father. However, he looked to be about their age. His gray speckled beard was nowhere to be found. In place was smooth skin, as if he had yet to grow facial hair.

Next to him was a woman they only vaguely remembered from when they were young children but still instantly recognized, their mother. She had platinum blonde hair with greenish blue eyes that sparked with purple light.

If someone were to put her next to the twins, there was no way they would pass as mother and daughters. Really, the only similarity was a slightly similar facial structure, but the eyes and hair threw any resemblance out the window.

Well, that was before they turned into elementals. Now they looked more like their mother than their father. That raised a bunch of terrifying questions, but under the effects of ghosts or whatever they were, their minds remained in a loopy state. That didn’t mean they weren’t paying attention. In fact, their gazes locked onto the figures.

Unlike the twins, Ione remained laying on the ground as if frozen, which she might’ve been, as the very air seemed to stand still.

Both figures smiled warmly at the twins, then stepped forward to touch their foreheads. Somehow, despite their transparent figures, their fingers felt solid as they contacted the twins.

What followed was a rapid-fire sequence of images that nestled deep into their minds. A moment later, the figures stepped back, both mouthing I love you before fading away.

The warm presence faded away with the figures leaving the twins standing in the middle of the kitchen blinking in confusion.

Any confusion vanished a moment later as blurry memories of the figures manifested in their minds. With the memory of the figures came a strong desire to leave as soon as possible, as danger was approaching.

They glanced at each other both with similar expressions, ready to bolt out the door. But knowing she wouldn’t have another chance for a long time, Elysia ran toward her bedroom. She shot around her bedroom, touching and storing everything that wasn’t nailed down, leaving behind a stripped bare room as she dashed next door to her twin’s bedroom.

Like her, Sereia tried to gather up as many things as she could carry from her bedroom, but without a storage device, it was fruitless.

Fortunately, after removing her father’s pickup truck, Elysia felt she had plenty of room in her ring. She touched the items clutched in her sister’s arms, most of which were pictures of important events in their lives. Each one vanished into her ring.

Sereia caught on instantly, pointing at a bunch of things in her bedroom as priority targets, turning Elysia into a pinball as she bounced from one side of the bedroom to the other.

When her sister ran out of things to point at, Elysia simply stored away everything else, just in case. Though, when she reached a box full of random things, including a certain pocket watch, her ring struggled, but after a couple seconds it succeeded.

When they left Sereia’s bedroom, they both turned toward their father’s closed bedroom door, but upon grabbing the doorknob, it refused to budge. Which was odd, as their father never locked his bedroom. Before they could question it further, the feeling of danger shot through the roof, erasing any desire to loot the rest of the house.

As one, they turned and dashed down the hall into the living room, then out the front door followed by Ione, who sent questioning images at both of them.

The moment they passed their father’s pickup truck, a heavy weight descended on their family home. Despite the compulsion to return to Umbra, they turned back to find a wall of light surrounding their family home.

As if time reversed, the house looked new again with the same red pickup truck, this time looking like it had just rolled off the showroom floor. Upon touching the barrier, their hand passed through as if to welcome them, but the feeling of danger continue to build, forcing them to turn away despite their desire to investigate further.

Understanding the urgency, Ione lowered herself and sent images to both of them, telling them to get on. After a moment of hesitation, they obliged, with Elysia at the front.

Once she ensured her family was secure, Ione took off in a sprint far slower than her usual traveling speed, but still faster than on foot.