"I remember the day," Varsil spoke. "It was a rainy night with a lot of thunderstorms. I was but 12 at the time, and with no cultivation to give me strength, I was scared of the thunderstorm."
"I went to my mother to stay with her until the thunderstorm passed, and that was when I saw her crying. I asked her why she was crying, but she wouldn't answer at all. All she would do is cry and scream apologies. I did not know who they were directed towards at the moment, but later I realized that it was for you."
"Mother explained to me later that night what she had done. What she and stepmother had done. She said it was a stupid, impulsive move that she should have thought more about. But, she was too dumb to think about it and plotted to kill you."
"That night, the poison that poisoned you had come from the tea my mother made you. She had expected something more substantial to come out of killing you, but nothing changed for her. And slowly, she realized that she had killed you for nothing."
"The guilt was too much for her. She couldn't stand it at all. Especially…" Varsil paused as tears rolled down his face. "Especially because I continuously reminded her of you at every second."
"Unable to handle the grief and guilt, mother told me everything that night, and later that night, she took her own life," Varsil said.
Marcus was distraught. "No… that's not true. No, Vanessa wouldn't. But she… why would she?" he couldn't make sense of the knowledge he just received.
All this time, he had come here with vengeance in mind. When he learned that his other wife had died, he put the blame on the same person that he was vengeful against, and that enhanced his drive.
However, now learning that the person he partially wanted to avenge was responsible for his death as well. How was he to feel after that?
"No, I will still kill her. She was the one that stabbed me in the back," Marcus said.
"Father," Varsil moved up front with Halios' help once again. "I can understand your pain and anger, and I can see why you would want stepmother to die, but please don't kill her."
"I have to," Marcus said. "That has been my only goal since I was born again. If I don't fucking do this, then what's the point of me being born again?"
Varsil's tears were still flowing. "It took me a while to realize something, father," he said, grabbing Marcus' attention again. "I always loved mother, and I thought she loved me back as well. But… it took me a while to realize that she never truly loved me."
"Not that she didn't want to, but rather she simply couldn't. Every time she looked at me, she would see you and instead of love, the only thing that would be in her heart would be guilt and sorrow. Such a person would never be capable of true love."
Marcus looked at him. "What are you trying to say?" he asked.
"It was only later that I learned what maternal love really was after my stepmother started taking care of me. She treated me like her own offspring. She took care of me when I was ill, she brought alchemists and physicians to look at my condition. She even went to many places to find various materials for me to extend my mortal life way beyond what was possible for a mortal."
"I guess what I'm trying to say is… please do not take away from me the only mother I still have."
The Empress was the first person to tear up after listening to her stepchild. Varsil was mostly reclusive, so she could never be sure what he was thinking.
She did what she could for him, but she never believed that she could replace his own mother. However, hearing what he had to say for himself, she couldn't help but realize just what she meant to this man.
She placed her hand on Mercil and pushed him aside.
"Mother?" Mercil asked.
"It's okay," she said. She slowly flew up to the front and went past Halios. She stopped momentarily next to Varsil and said, "thank you for calling me your mother."
Then, she moved in front of Marcus.
"Since you are here to kill me. Do it. I have no fight left in me, and I do not see myself getting out of this situation anyway," she said.
Marcus growled in response and raised his sword. The Empress closed her eyes and softly said, "Goodbye, my children."
"Mother!" they all shouted, but the Empress had accepted her fate.
"YAAAH!" Marcus shouted as his sword glowed a brilliant silver. She slashed down in front of him releasing all the energy directly into the air.
However, not a single bit of it landed on the Empress.
The Empress opened her eyes with a confused and surprised look on her face. "You… didn't kill me?" she asked.
"You bet your ass I didn't," Marcus said, still growling clearly in his voice. "What sort of father would I be if I killed my own children's mother after hearing the pain in their voice."
He was still quite agitated and wanted to kill her but he had to stop himself. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" he shouted in anger. He continued cussing for a while before he stopped.
"Have you calmed down?" Ning arrived from the side.
"Do I look like I'm fucking calm?" Marcus asked.
"Well, calm enough," Ning said. "What do you plan on doing with her now?"
"What's it to you? Who the fuck are you even?" Marcus asked.
"Never mind I asked that," Ning said. "So, since you seem to be somewhat done with it all, can you take this flying castle away? Now that I have the oath stone in my hand, I'm taking over the secret realm, and I would love it if you moved the castle elsewhere."
