Solus fell onto her knees, crying in humiliation. The people that she had dreamed to meet her whole life barely knew her name and yet they had already judged her, deeming her unworthy.
Solus turned to a shade of purple and so did all the lights in the tower.
Tista ran to her side, hugging Solus who clung to her and hid her face on Tista's shoulder. Seeing the light of that small creature flicker with each one of her sobs, made the Verhen family feel deeply ashamed of their mindless outburst.
'If she's not a homewrecker, I've just stepped all over that poor girl out of prejudice.' Elina thought. 'If she is a homewrecker, instead, I'm playing into her hand and making her the victim. I must hold my tongue and trust my son.'
'I'm such an idiot.' Raaz's eyes moved from Lith to Solus, not knowing what to do. 'It's no wonder Lith didn't tell us earlier. He made everything he could to let us know how important this woman is to him and yet we're treating her like crap.'
'Judging from her tears, the pain in Lith's eyes, and Tista's worry, I get the feeling that I'm going to kick my own ass later.' Rena thought. 'If Lith and Tista shut me out of their lives because of my big mouth, I'll never forgive myself.'
The three of them could see that their reckless words and mistrust had added more suffering to the sadness that Lith already carried.
"I'm really sorry that you've got to endure all this, Solus, but I did warn you about what would happen once others discovered about you. Our relationship is baffling at best." He said while hugging and patting Solus in an attempt to console her.
"Yeah. The only silver lining is that at least everything is going according to your plan." She half sobbed and half cried in the arms of her friends.
The family felt now more than embarrassed by their behavior. Lith seemed to have predicted their reaction down to the smallest detail, making his choice of not introducing Solus to them before seem more than reasonable.
Both Lith and Solus had gone through many hardships so if he expected her to receive a rough treatment all along, Lith was likely to have waited for the moment when the blow would hurt as little as possible.
Now that he was single, they couldn't see Solus as a threat for Kamila, and due to her almost human appearance, they had treated Solus as a person instead of as a cursed relic attempting to manipulate their beloved Lith.
"Mom, Dad, Rena, the existence of a mage tower is already a world-breaking news but this is not only the tower of Menadion, it is also the home and body of my best friend.
"I didn't introduce her to you earlier for more reasons than I can count. On top of that, words cannot express or explain the depth of our bond nor the uniqueness of our relationship." Lith said while helping Solus to stand up.
"Now, however, I know how to use mind links with anyone. I can show instead of telling and let you witness with your own eyes our shared past before casting any more rushed judgments."
Lith extended his right hand to Raaz and the left to Senton, while Solus held Tista with her left and offered her right hand to Elina.
They all exchanged looks for a few seconds before holding hands and forming a circle where Lith and Solus stood at the opposite sides to perfectly balance the mana flow.
Once again, they had to avoid both the sensory overload and the mana poisoning that a prolonged mind link might cause.
Luckily, his family already knew by heart the most crucial events in Lith's life, even Senton. Rena had told him about Lith being a prodigy ever since he was a child, describing to Senton the feats that her brother had accomplished before their marriage.
Lith and Solus had to show them only the extra parts of their stories, those that the two of them had performed in secret. They showed the Verhen family how Solus had helped Lith hunting, mastering his abilities as an Awakened, and becoming the man he was.
From the boar hunt and through Lark's mission until their fight against Jakra, the Verhens witnessed how their communion brought them closer than words could describe and how it was the only reason why Lith had been able to overcome impossible odds his whole life.
After the part about Lith was over, they also showed the Verhens everything they knew about Solus's past. This time it wasn't about Kamila accepting Solus, but about Lith's family understanding that they had one more hidden member for years.
They saw the memory of baby Solus, her father's death, and then her own, followed by the never-ending loneliness that Solus had experienced after Menadion's death until Lith had found her.
Some parts weren't real memories, just reconstructions of the events, yet they hurt nonetheless.
Once the projection was over, the members of Lith's family found themselves crying, even Tista. She already knew Solus's story, but she had never lived it before.
They cried out of joy, sadness, grief, and compassion at the same time, moved to tears by the emotional roller coaster they had just lived. The previous anger fought hard against those revelations, giving them mixed feelings about Solus.
After the mind link was broken, it took everyone a few minutes of silence to sort their respective feelings and make up their minds. As often happened, Elina's motherly heart found its way while the others were still lost in thought.
"Thank you so much, Solus." Elina said while hugging the small figure made of light. "Thank you for dedicating your whole life to protect my son from this world and even from himself. Without you, he would have probably lost his way and we him.
"I apologize for what I said earlier. I believed that you were a threat to Lith's happiness whereas you're the only reason why he can strive for it and so can we. My entire family owes you a debt of gratitude that can never be paid back."
Elina kissed Solus's forehead and then her eyes, wiping off her tears before turning towards Lith.
"As for you, young man, how could you let this poor girl live in your shadow for so long? You should have told us, or at least me, much sooner. Solus is a broken soul just like you.
"She has lost her family and she could have used a mother just as much as you did."
"I thought about it countless times." Lith replied. "But a talking stone arouses more fear than compassion and without the mind link, my words would have sounded emptier than a bard's tale."
"Your words pain me, but you are right." Elina gave a deep bow to Solus as an apology.
"Without the mind link, after those horrible things like the Black Star, Tezka, and Dawn, I would have probably called Mirim for help the second after you turned your back to me, believing that you needed to be saved."
"Don't worry, Elina, I understand why-"
"The fact that you empathize with such blatant lack of trust doesn't make it any better. Quite the contrary." Elina cut Solus short and hugged her tightly.
