William stayed in the Underworld for two more days because Erinys wanted to stay with her father a little while longer.
To her surprise, Thanatos accompanied her during those two days, and left the workload to his subordinates.
Right now, he wasn’t a God of Death, but a father who was doing his best to make up for the lost time that he hadn’t spent with his daughter.
Finally, on the second day, Thanatos came to find William, so that the two of them could talk in private.
After making sure that no one could overhear their conversation, Thanatos asked William the question that had been bothering him for a long time.
“What is Erinys to you?” Thanatos asked as his blue eyes stared at the Half-Elf, making sure that the latter knew that he was asking a serious question. “If you just plan to fool around with her, it would be best if you don’t take her back to the Surface World. My daughter is not an accessory that you can carry around whenever you please, and toss aside when you no longer need her.”
William held Thanatos’ gaze before answering his question.
“I wanted Erinys to be by my side forever,” William answered honestly. “When I first saw her, I only thought that she would play an important role in my life because she is one of the faces of Hope, but after spending some time with her, I found out that she is a very sweet and considerate girl who cares about others.”
“So, do you plan to make her your concubine?” Thanatos asked in a steely tone. Clearly, he didn’t like the idea of his daughter becoming the Half-Elf’s bed warmer, whose position was lower than the Half-Elf’s wives.”
William shook his head firmly. “No. I plan to marry her and make her my wife.”
Thanatos’ piercing gaze never left William’s face, looking for any sign of falsehood in his answer.
However, after a few minutes, the God of Death only snorted, which meant that he couldn’t find any lies in the Half-Elf words.
“Remember this, Half-Elf,” Thanatos said as he looked down on the red-headed teenager who was going to take her daughter away from him for a second time. “Erinys is my only child. If you make her cry, I will descend to Hestia and kill you. Do you understand?”
William nodded. He didn’t plan to convince the God of Death with words, but with his actions.
Half an hour later, the Half-Elf returned to the Flying Ship to find an anxious Erinys, who hugged him the moment he stepped on the deck of her ship.
“Did my father say anything harsh?” Erinys asked. “Did he hurt you?”
William smiled as he patted the anxious Half-ling’s head.
“No. We just talked,” William replied. “Talk between men.”
Erinys breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the one she loved and her father were no longer at odds with each other.
What she didn’t know was that during the time Thanatos and William talked in private, the two were having an intense discussion about something which concerned the doll-like beauty’s future.
“Say your goodbye to your father,” William said as he crouched down to kiss Erinys’ forehead. “It is time for us to go back to the Surface World. It will be a while before you see him again, so say your goodbye properly.”
Erinys nodded. “Un!”
Gray wings sprouted from Erinys’ back which allowed her to fly towards her father, who was standing in the distance, waiting for her.
William looked at this scene with a tender gaze because he could tell how much Thanatos loved his daughter.
A few minutes later, a teary-eyed Half-ling returned to the flying ship. After saying her goodbye to her Father, she felt as if she had finally managed to take that final step, allowing her to grow as an individual.
Thanatos watched as the Flying Ship soar towards the sky, headed towards the portal that he had created.
As the God of Death, it was easy for him to allow anyone to leave his Domain whenever he wished.
“Goodbye, Erinys,” Thanatos muttered as he looked at the flying ship that was about to pass through the portal. “I’ll be waiting for your return.”
———
The moment Erinys flying ship passed through the portal, they found themselves in a familiar place.
“The Sacred Grove,” William scanned his surroundings to confirm his suspicion. “It is indeed the Sacred Grove.”
pA(nD)A no ve1 Erinys, who was hugging his waist nodded her head because this was indeed the same place where William’s mother stayed.
Suddenly, a clapping sound reached their ears, making the two look up at one of the branches of the World Tree where the sound was coming from.
“Welcome back, Will, Erinys,” Arwen said with a smile. “It has been a while.”
The beautiful Elf jumped off the tree branch, and glided gently towards the ground.
The smile on her face widened after seeing the Half-ling clinging to her son’s waist. Due to Erinys’ adorable beauty, Arwen was very tempted to take her home with her, and cuddle her to oblivion.
“Mother, Erinys is not a toy, please don’t look at her like that,” William said as he shielded the Half-ling from his mother, whose thoughts were clearly written on her face. “You’re going to scare her.”
“Nonsense,” Arwen replied as she walked towards William to give him a hug.
Naturally, she also gave Erinys a hug and even slightly pinched her cheeks, while holding back the urge to take her home with her.
“Since you’re here, and came from the base of the World Tree, I’m guessing that you just returned from the Underworld,” Arwen said. “Did you succeed in recovering the souls of my daughters-in-law?”
William nodded his head. “Yes, Mother. I brought them back with me.”
Arwen had long wanted to talk to the ladies that had married her son. He wanted to spend some time with them, and subtly encourage them to give birth to William’s babies, so that she could hug her grandchildren sooner rather than later.
Living in the Sacred Grove could be quite lonely at times, and if not for the fact that Skyla, the White Crane, was keeping her company, she might have not been able to bear the loneliness of her duty.
Her husband had once again fallen into a hibernation state, so she was unable to talk to him. Because of this, she spent most of her days going to the Spring of Life, trying to coax Acedia to talk to her, whom the latter ignored completely.
“You did well, Will.” Arwen sighed in her heart. “I can finally hold my grandchildren.”
William who heard Arwen’s words couldn’t help but smile because his mother didn’t know that Celine had already given birth to his child.
After talking to Thanatos, the God of Death confirmed that Celine had already given birth.
However, he told the Half-Elf that the Goddess, Lyssa, wanted to let the child stay in the Elysian Fields for a few more days before they returned to the World of Hestia.
Celine’s Patron Goddess didn’t say why the mother and child couldn’t go with him back to the Surface World, but since the Goddess had once descended to help him fight against Ahriman, the Half-Elf decided to just wait for a few more days for Celine’s arrival.
But, before leaving the Underworld, William asked Thanatos to pass a message to Celine, which made the God of Death arch an eyebrow.
Since it was part of the things that the red-headed teenager and him had talked about, the God of Death agreed to pass the message.
“Erinys, I’ll go and see them first,” William said as he crouched down to look the Half-ling in the eye. “Stay with mother for a while, but if she does anything weird, don’t hesitate to escape and lock yourself inside your cabin, okay?”
Erinys smiled and nodded her head. “I understand.”
Arwen, who heard William’s rude words, crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.
Seeing that his mother got the message, the Half-Elf took his leave and headed down the path that would take him to the Spring of Life.
With the soul of his wives, stored within the gem on his chest, the red-headed teenager’s steps quickened, as if he couldn’t wait to arrive at his destination.
A few minutes later, the Half-Elf waded towards the spring, to return the souls of his wives to their rightful bodies.
However, before he could do that, several strands of hair rose up from the water and wrapped itself around his body, preventing him from moving.
A moment later, he was dragged underwater until he came face to face with the beautiful Elf, whose hands wrapped around the back of his head, pulling him into a long, and passionate kiss, making the Half-Elf sense Acedia’s overflowing feelings for him.
