'Forgive me, Ripha. I can't change the past, but I can promise you that I will not let you down again.' Silvering wiped her tears and studied the tower with Life Vision.
None of its defenses had been activated and most of the energy that the tower absorbed from the ground was focused in a single room.
"Emergency override. Password: Loka, white, legacy, death, Menadion." Lochra sighed in relief when the tower recognized the ancient code and opened its door to her.
Once inside, she made herself both invisible and inaudible, checking the rooms one by one to estimate the threat level of her potential enemies.
'What the heck? How could Menadion's tower become an Awakened sorority?' After finding Tista and Phloria, even the other rooms clearly belonged to women.
'Well, the good news is that they are just weak kids. It shouldn't take much to talk some sense into them. The better news is that being all girls, they shouldn't have abused of- Oh, crap!'
All of Silverwing's hopes crumbled into dust when she opened the door to Lith's room and found Solus sleeping in the same bed as the Wyrmling while hugging him. The steady flow of energy from both Lith and the mana geyser had made Solus assume her humanoid form after she had lost consciousness.
Lochra's body flared with mana and fury, lighting the room akin to a white sun as the mana waves she released along with her aura made her robe flap as if she was amid a storm.
The sudden light and noise woke up Solus who immediately activated the emergency protocols, ready to smite the intruder before they could take another step. That until the tower core reported to her that Silverwing's override code had been activated, allowing Solus to recognize her foe.
"Aunt Loka? Is that really you?" She said while Hushing the room and covering Lith's eyes with a shroud of darkness to not disturb his rest.
Those words stayed Silverwing's hand and the spell she was about to unleash to kill the sick bastard who had enslaved her sweet, innocent goddaughter.
"Elphyn? Do you still recognize me?" The room plunged back into darkness as she rushed forward, lifting Solus in the air like she was a small child before hugging her and kissing her head over and over.
"Not really. I just read the tower's log. I'm sorry, but I've lost most of my memories. I've got no recollection of you or Dad. I barely remember Mom and I've no idea who Elphyn is. My name is Solus." She said while escaping from the awkward embrace of the stranger.
"What do you mean, you've lost your memories? What did that sicko do to you?" Lochra pointed at the Wyrmling with enough mana in her forefinger to turn the tower into a crater.
"Lith saved my life, that's what he did." Solus put herself between them. "I've waited centuries for someone to find me after Mom's death. Over time, the tower got so weak that in order to survive, I had to make sacrifices.
"What's your excuse for forgetting about me until now?" Solus's eyes brimmed, with rage and with as much mana as she could muster.
Her words hit Silverwing like a fist in the guts, making her realize how crazy she had to appear in Elphyn's eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Epphy." Lochra lowered her arm, doing her best to hold back the centuries of regrets that were seconds away from making her burst into tears.
"The moment I tried to get in touch with Ripha, her contact rune was already gone. I tried to find the tower, but this damned thing failed me." She showed Solus the Pathfinder and its needle that still spun like a fan.
"Your mother gave it to me in the case something happened to her. It was supposed to guide me to the tower, but only now did I realize it's broken. I visited all the mana geysers I was aware of, but I never found any trace of you.
"I thought that the same person who had killed Ripha, had also killed you and taken the tower. I never stopped searching for you. Why do you think I came to Jiera?" Everything from her tone to her heartbeat sounded sincere, making Solus lower her guard.
"Are you saying that not even you know who killed Mom?" Solus was flabbergasted.
"No one does. Otherwise every single Awakened on Mogar would have hunted them down to get their hands on Ripha's legacy. Either your mother died along with her enemy, or she hid the tower so well that neither her killer nor me managed to find it.
"Gods, you must have so many questions. Especially about your father." Silverwing said.
"What was his name and was he a mage as well or just a painter?" Solus asked.
"By the Great Mother, how can you know that your father was a painter but not remember his name?" Silverwing finally understood that Solus's memory was as damaged as the tower.
She had spoken out of sincere worry, but Solus's pained expression at those words made Lochra feel as if her heart was being squeezed in a vise.
"I'm sorry, Epphy, I didn't mean to be so insensitive. First, I'll answer to all your questions and then you'll explain to me what has happened to you. Deal?"
"Deal." Solus offered her hand, receiving another smothering embrace instead.
"Your father's name was Threin. He was just a painter who didn't practice magic except what he needed for his work and for taking care of you. He learned water magic to be able to draw exactly as he imagined, light magic to treat your baby colics, and darkness magic to keep you clean." Silverwing chuckled at the memory.
"How did Mom and Dad meet?" Solus asked.
"Your father was an oddball and your mother was even worse. Neither of them cared much for social status or etiquette. They met by chance at painting classes. I forced Ripha to get a hobby and to come out of her lab.
"Since she liked working with her hands and always considered herself an artist, they became immediately rivals."
"Was Mom that good?" Solus's eyes shined with pride at the idea.
"Gods, no. At three years you drew better than she did after several classes. It was just Ripha being overly competitive, like always. She could barely hold a brush properly her whole life.
"Your father never got angry with Ripha for her boasting and tried to teach her, but to no avail. The only thing he got from all those private lessons was to spend a lot of time with her until your Mom fell in love and asked him out." Lochra replied.
"How old were they?" Solus asked.
"Your mother was over 200 years old and your father was 22 when they started dating and they married three years later. You arrived after their 10th anniversary because your Mom always had a new project in the works and she was terrified at the idea of how much time taking care of a baby would require.
"Heck, to get Ripha out of her lab, your father requested my help more than once to kidnap her. Literally."
