"No. I wouldn't let you come back until I made sure that your mind isn't damaged and enough time passed so that you could make a rational decision, no." Silverwing admitted.

"And how long would that take? Months? Years? That doesn't sound like freedom, but control." Solus shook her head. "My answer is no."

'As if I'd let someone like her learn Lith's secrets. If I take a new partner, they could check my memories and ruin Lith's life. It's enough to tell his family that he isn't the real Lith to put at risk everything he loves.' She thought.

"It would take as long as it takes." Silverwing said with a sigh, putting on the table the second package. "By the way, child, you'd better throw the Removal unit away."

Phloria had already noticed the surge caused by the tower's energy trying to become whole again. She did as instructed, watching the wooden box turn into a bunch of wood splinters and small crystal fragments.

Removal units were relics of the past whose Forgemastering methods had been lost to time due to their uselessness. Silverwing had traveled far and wide to find one of the last pieces.

"Are you sure this is your final decision?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Solus replied, picking the stone ring up from the floor and offering it to Lith.

"Wait." Phloria said. "Wouldn't it be better to give the ring to Tista? She and you are friends, the bonding wouldn't mess up your personal life. You could even give it to Elina. She lives a quiet life and could use someone as powerful as you to protect her."

"Tista already has enough problems dealing with her hybrid nature. Having me inside her head would only make matters worse. Also, would you really be okay with another person hearing your thoughts, watching your every move, and commenting on everything you do?" Solus said.

"As for Elina, she's no mage. My presence would put her at risk of Awakening and live long enough to survive her husband and most of her children. On top of that, whoever I pick will have to shoulder the burden of keeping the tower a secret.

"Lith and I, instead, are already used to each other and we make a great team."

"What about you, Lith? What about Kamila?" Phloria asked.

'What about me?' She inwardly added.

"I would love to have Kami back, but I don't think that pushing Solus away would make her change her mind. What's done is done and the decision to accept it or not is up to her, just like Solus has the right to decide who she wants to bond with." Lith replied.

"I could say that neither Mom nor Tista can make Solus recover as fast as I do, or spout some cheesy line about destiny. Yet the truth is that I just want Solus in my life, but only if she agrees with it."

Then, he turned towards Solus.

"If you want to go with Silverwing, Mom, or Tista, I'll accept it. Just please give me back my stuff and delete my browser history."

Solus laughed at the joke while the two other women had no idea what he had just said.

"You are not going to get rid of me so easily, Lith Verhen." She took the ring out of Phloria's palm and put it on the medium finger of Lith's right hand, where it had always been.

Lith, Solus, and the inside of the tower shone like a sun for a brief moment as the bond was restored.

'This is it.' Phloria felt a part of her dying, yet she accepted it without flinching. 'Whatever they have, Lith didn't hesitate to put on Solus' ring in front of me. It's time I give up on the idea of going back together and start searching for someone who will put me first.'

"What is that thing?" Solus pointed at the second package.

It was covered by regular gift wrapping and she could see it had a faint magical aura, yet the spell was nothing she had ever seen before.

"It was supposed to be your welcome gift in your new home, but at this point, it's going to be our parting gift."  Silverwing removed the wrapping with more care than she had with the Removal unit, almost with tenderness.

It turned out to be a painting depicting a flower field surrounded by blooming trees. Multi-colored dots depicted petals flying through the air, swirling around a couple in the distance who seemed to be having a picnic.

A tag on the lower frame marked it with the unoriginal name "Springtime".

"Dad?" Tears streamed out of Solus's eyes as she recognized the familiar signature on the lower right corner of the painting.

It was a black scribble that back in the day had brought many of Menadion's visitors to ask why ruin such a joyful scene by depicting a pile of horseshit, but it actually read Threin.

"Yes. It's one of your father's paintings. The colors that your mother made for him allowed them to survive the passing of time. There are still a few around, mostly in the Awakened community." Silverwing said.

"While I searched for you and your mother, people broke into your home in hopes of finding a clue that would lead them to Ripha's legacy. This is one of the few I managed to recover over the centuries.

"It depicts-"

"The first date of my parents." Solus completed the phrase for her.

New memories flooded Solus's brain, but this time they were happy ones.

Solus was back being a four years old child, with shoulder-length hair streaked silver and orange while the rest was of a hue of brown so light that it looked golden under the sunlight.

She thought that the painting had sucked her in just like the Removal unit had done to her ring, because the scene in front of her eyes matched the picture except for the lack of horseshit.

Baby Solus and her parents sat on a picnic blanket covered with horrible-looking food whose foul smell contrasted with the sweet scent of the blooming flowers around them.

"I'm hungry!" The baby said while looking at her parents spoon-feeding culinary horrors to each other with a smile on their faces. "Dad, I want food!"

"There's plenty of food." Ripha said with a chuckle after swallowing the mouthful whole to not suffer its taste.

"Why do you do this? The last time Dad spent more time in the bathroom than with me!" Baby Solus pouted, demanding her father's attention.

"You were just three years old. I didn't expect you to remember that." Threin picked her up before she stomped everything in her path.

"I remember waiting for you and how you smelled of poo when you finally arrived." Her words made her parents laugh.

"I'm sorry, pumpkin." Threin said. "Know that even though the food on these plates tastes as bad as it looks, Mom and Dad wouldn't be together without it. We like to re-enact our first date on the day of our anniversary."

"Really?" Baby Solus had no idea what they were talking about but her parents had taught her that it was polite to feign interest before making requests. "Can we eat now?"

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