Chapter 3968: Ominous Prophecy (Part 1)

"We’ll take a stroll, Lith." Jirni said. "I’m not a big fan of the Blood Desert, but it’s the only place where I can stretch my legs without worrying about where your defensive arrays end."

"I’ll see you guys at dinner, then." Lith nodded.

"Sooner than that." Jirni waved her hand and walked away, followed by her family. "With my luck, if I let Solus spend too much time with Dripha, my baby girl will call her mom instead of me."

***

Meanwhile, Solus and her mother had plenty of choices where to sit on the beach. Aside from the area where Salaark’s workers were building a wharf for fishing and cargo ships, the seashore was deserted.

The merfolk tried their best to keep themselves away from the ocean and get accustomed to life on the surface. Aside from those who had to deliver messages to and from Starry Lagoon’s underwater twin village, no one entered the water.

"Thank you for taking time from your hectic schedule for our regular mother-daughter dates, baby girl." Menadion said while laying a large beach towel down. "I know we are always together, but I love spending time with you when Lith is not around."

"And I thank you for not calling me baby girl in front of strangers, Mom." Solus sighed. "I’m old- I mean, I’m an adult, and being treated like a child is embarrassing. Also, I like our dates too.

"We can finally sit down and relax without Lith nagging about not wasting time and suggesting we perform this exercise or another."

"Sure." Menadion nodded in a rush, sending the Ears back to the tower and hoping that Solus wouldn’t notice. "What’s our plan for the afternoon?"

"We can talk, Mom. Possibly not about work." Solus’ gaze hardened, making Ripha smile awkwardly. "Also, don’t forget that we are not alone, so mind your words."

She took the babies out of the stroller and sat them on the beach towel.

"Welcome to the party, boys and girls." She said, eliciting the excited giggles of Elysia and Valeron. Surin and Dripha, instead, looked at their surroundings in mild curiosity. "Remember the beach rules.

"You can fly, but not get away from me and Grandma Ripha." Menadion shuddered at the word ’grandma’. "You can use magic, but not against each other or other people. Is that clear?"

Valeron and Elysia nodded, while Dripha started to cry, immediately followed by Surin.

"This is not the reaction I hoped for." A pungent smell revealed the cause of Dripha’s unrest to Solus. "I can’t believe you went for numbers one and two already. We just got out of the house."

"And I can’t believe how good you’ve gotten at changing diapers, Epphy." Ripha chuckled as her daughter cleaned the baby and cleansed the air with chore magic. "I’m sorry. I know you don’t like it when I use your old name."

"Don’t worry, Mom." Solus managed to keep the edge out of her voice. "It’s the name you and Dad gave me. I love it as much as Solus. You can call me Elphyn or Epphy when we are alone."

"Thanks, but I don’t want to push myself on you." Menadion wrung her hands. "I can see you flinch whenever I use the wrong name."

"There’s nothing wrong with Elphyn." Solus shook her head and finished changing Dripha, who rewarded her with a smile and a giggle. "You are not the problem, and neither is my old name, Mom. I’m the problem.

"Or rather, the person you knew as Elphyn Menadion is."

"What do you mean?" Menadion asked in confusion.

"Are you seriously asking me this, Mom?" Surin kept crying, yet her diaper was clean and her stomach full. "Why is she crying like this? She’s as fit as a fiddle!"

"She doesn’t like being here." Menadion conjured a small cloud to shade Surin, but Valeron and Elysia charged at it as a game and dispersed it. "Stop it, you rascals. I’m not playing with you. Your aunt doesn’t like sunlight."

She used earth magic to create a canopy from the sand, and the babies perched on it with curiosity. Surin stopped crying only when she saw the muzzles of the small Bahamut and Tiamat staring at her.

"We need a diversion." Menadion said as the baby Divine Beasts chirped their challenge at seagulls.

"Don’t worry, I got this." Solus conjured a detailed sand castle, but small enough for Dripha and Surin to see it from top to bottom. "This is the story of the knight and the Dragon."

Tiny sand puppets wielding farming instruments appeared all around the castle while a Dragon coiled around its keep, and an armored puppet on top of a horse trotted from a distance. The plot of the story was as Menadion expected, except for one point.

Solus told the story from the perspective of the Dragon, making the knight the bad guy who wanted to split the Wyrm from his hard-earned hoard. Solus used funny noises instead of words, relying on the intonation to express the different emotions of the characters.

The farmers were scared of the Dragon but greedy for his treasures, and welcomed the arrival of the knight with mean laughter. The knight was arrogant and sure to win, while the Dragon just wanted to be left alone.

"As I was saying, Elphyn is the problem, Mom." Once the audience was too captivated by her performance to care about the sudden absence of the adult babble, Solus cast a Hush zone on herself and Ripha.

Elysia and Valeron were outraged by the knight’s overbearing attitude and cheered for the innocent Dragon.

"She was selfish, mean, and narrow-minded. Elphyn did things I never would, destroying her reputation and tainting yours. The reason you see me flinching whenever you call me Epphy is because it reminds me of how foolish and self-destructive I was."

"You are being too harsh on yourself." Menadion took Solus’ hand while the puppet farmers moved around and sand-crops grew at a visible rate. "Yes, Elphyn had her flaws, but she was also a talented Forgemaster and a kind, honest friend.

"Otherwise, all the people you’ve met from your old life wouldn’t have welcomed your return with open arms."

"That’s because- Hey, no cheating!" The story had reached its climax, and the Dragon and the knight were engaged in an epic battle of sand-spells, claws, and sword.

Elysia and Valeron didn’t like it when the knight gained the upper hand and tried to push him back with short bursts of Origin Flames.

"This is my story, so sit back and play nice, or we are done." Solus clenched her hand, and the stage reverted to a pile of sand. "You’ll never know what happened to the Dragon and his riches."

Elysia and Valeron chirped in horror, while Dripha started to cry in disappointment. As for Surin, she cried along, but only because her companions had woken her up from a pleasant nap.

"Will you sit tight and be good?" Solus asked and, while Surin continued to cry, the other three toddlers nodded. "Gods, when I tell Jirni about this, she’s going to be... pleasantly surprised and proud of how smart her daughter is."

"The rest of Dripha’s family, not so much." Menadion took Surin in her arms and hummed with a soothing voice to calm her down.

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