Chapter 221

Chapter 221: Reunion

The familiar house stood quietly at the end of the quiet street, bright and warm light shining out from the windows on the first floor.

The sky was already completely dark. The streetlights on both sides of the road made the surroundings seem even more still. Heidi slowed the car a little. In the last hundred meters before the house gate, she used slow, deep breaths to gently adjust her feelings.

She had helped Vanna calm down, but she knew that her own mood was not as relaxed and calm as she seemed.

The scene of saying goodbye to Father felt as if it had happened only a moment ago. At that time she still had no idea what would happen in the city state, while Father had clearly sensed something already.

It was a farewell between life and death that she only understood afterward.

Father had told her to go to the Cathedral to seek shelter, while he himself went to that antique shop in the Lower City. But why did he have to go to that antique shop?

A trace of doubt rose in Heidi’s heart, but she quickly set it aside. The light in the entry hall at home was on. It was waiting for her.

The dark gray car drove smoothly into the yard. Heidi pushed open the front door, walked a few steps inside, and suddenly stopped in surprise.

The one waiting for her at home was not Father, who in theory should have gotten back long ago, but Mother. Mother wore a wool shawl with dark blue stripes and sat on a high backed chair by the dining table, a delicate pair of glasses on her nose as she read the newspaper with full attention. On the table beside her sat a tall stack of newspapers, which looked like old issues that had been moved out of Father’s study.

Heidi froze in the doorway of the dining room, unable to react for a moment.

She could no longer remember how long it had been since Mother last walked out of that bedroom. It seemed that for many years, the Mother in her memory had always stayed in that dimly lit room, while there was always an empty seat left by the dining table at home. Father said that seat was reserved for Mother, yet no one ever sat there.

Heidi had always felt this was very strange, but after so many years, she had grown used to Mother never leaving the room. Until now. Seeing Mother sitting in that chair, she felt an unreal sensation, as if a whole lifetime had passed.

Heidi walked forward two steps without thinking. Her footsteps finally drew the old lady’s attention. Mother looked up, saw her daughter, and at once smiled. “Ah, Heidi, you are back.”

“I…” Heidi opened her mouth and suddenly did not know how to talk to her Mother. She clearly went to her parents’ bedroom almost every day to greet her, yet at this moment she felt as if she had not seen Mother in more than ten years. “I was delayed for a while at the Cathedral. Are you… are you feeling better?”

“I am fine. I am right here,” Mother said happily with a smile. There was a light in her eyes that Heidi could not read. She rose from the chair and slowly came to stand in front of her daughter. She stared a little dazed at Heidi’s face, then reached out and touched her hair. “Let me look at you properly… It has been so long since I really looked at you…”

“Do we not see each other every day?” Heidi said without thinking. Then she looked at the old lady with some worry. “Why did you come out of the bedroom? Are you feeling better today?”

Mother smiled, as if talking to herself, yet also as if speaking to her daughter. “I am better, I am better… By the way, why is Morris still not back?”

“Father has not come home yet?” Heidi froze when she heard this, a faint worry rising in her heart. “He should have been here earlier. The place he went is closer than the Cathedral, and he would not have been delayed for half a day like me…”

“Maybe the car broke down on the way,” Mother said slowly. “His driving skills have never been anything to praise. Come, let us wait for him together.”

Heidi hesitated, then nodded and followed Mother back to the table. Soon she noticed the rich dishes laid out there. They were not the few simple dishes usually made by the temporary maid the family had hired.

“Did you cook this?” Heidi looked up in surprise. “It has been so long since you cooked.”

“Yes, it has been a long time. I could not even find where the ingredients were. I had to ask that maid to help me find many of them, and I do not know how it tastes,” Mother said with a faint smile. “Luckily, I still remember the general steps.”

Heidi listened, her gaze dropping to the food on the table. She could not help picking up her fork, wanting to taste a bite. But just as she raised her hand, Mother’s voice came from the side. “Wait until your Father gets home before we eat.”

Heidi’s movement stopped at once.

She had not heard that sentence in many years either.

Just then, a faint sound suddenly came from near the door. It sounded like the flapping of some large bird’s wings, mixed with soft crackling. Heidi had just begun to wonder what it was when she heard the sound of someone taking out a key and turning the knob. The front door opened not far away.

Father was back.

Morris stood blankly in the doorway. The dizziness caused by AI teleporting him straight from the Vanished had not yet faded. The rolling, chaotic sensations made his head spin so much that for more than ten seconds, he thought he was hallucinating.

He saw his wife sitting by the dining table, waiting for him to come home and eat.

Then he realized it was not an illusion.

The sacred miracle he had prayed for from Subspace eleven years ago had finally, after this crossing of flame and history, become fixed on this side of the Veil. Something he had not dared to hope for even in his dreams had come true.

After standing like a statue for a long moment, Morris finally moved. He took a step forward, then walked faster and faster.

On the Vanished, he had shared the flesh of the Deep Sea Spawn with the retainers, learned Listening rite knowledge from a Subspace shadow, and become a member of a secret society. Just a short while ago, these things had weighed on his heart like a heavy burden. But suddenly, that weight seemed to vanish. In all of this, he seemed to glimpse the most reasonable explanation.

The fulfillment of any sacred miracle required a price to be paid. Now that price had fallen on him in the gentlest, warmest way.

It was time to accept it gladly.

His wife rose from the table, and Morris pulled her into a tight embrace.

“I can finally see you…” The old scholar’s voice was low, as if he feared that Heidi might overhear yet also feared that his wife would not. “I…”

“All right, the child is watching. You will have plenty of time to explain to me what happened. There is no rush right now.”

“Oh… oh, you are right, you are right.”

Morris answered in a bit of a panic. He let go of his wife and turned his head, and saw Heidi looking at them in surprise.

“Ahem… I came back late. On the way… the car broke down. I will have to find someone to tow it back tomorrow,” Morris explained awkwardly, then quickly changed the subject. “Are you all right? At the Cathedral… everything was fine?”

“Except for being badly frightened and full of confusion, I am unharmed, just like everyone else,” Heidi answered, then looked her father up and down. “But you… why do I feel you are acting strange? Did something happen on the way back?”

“What could happen to me?” Morris said at once, as if afraid Heidi would steer the topic toward what he had been doing lately. Right after that, he noticed the rich dishes on the table.

The old scholar’s expression instantly became complicated.

“I… already ate before coming back,” he said hesitantly. “On the ship… at Mr. Duncan’s place.”

The ugly, terrifying “fish” appeared in his mind.

At the Feast of Subspace, he had been as nervous about the fish as that strange Abyssal Hound. But under Mr. Duncan’s gaze, he had still forced himself to eat the flesh of the Deep Sea Spawn. He did not remember very clearly what had happened afterward.

He only remembered that it had been truly delicious.

Right now, he felt he could not eat another bite.

But his wife’s voice came from the side just then. “I made this myself.”

“Mother has not cooked in many years,” Heidi quickly added. “She felt a bit better today, so…”

“Then I will have some more.” As soon as Morris heard that, he sat down at the table before his daughter could finish her sentence. The first thing he did was pick up the soup bowl and pour down a big gulp.

“How does it… taste?” his wife asked expectantly from the side.

“A little… salty,” Morris said hesitantly. Then he raised the bowl again and gulped down several more mouthfuls, swallowing as he laughed. “Salty, very salty… Your cooking is always this salty…”

“If you think it is bad, then do not eat it!”

“I never said it was bad…”

“Then shut your mouth and eat. Why are you talking so much at the table?”

Heidi looked up and glanced at her father, then at her mother.

She had not heard this kind of conversation in many years. After all these years, it seemed that nothing had changed.

So she smiled, lowered her head, cut off a piece of fried steak, and put it into her mouth.

It really was a little salty.

…

Uncle had already gone to bed and was sleeping very soundly. It seemed he had not had a good sleep in a very, very long time, so much so that he had started nodding off halfway through their conversation.

Vanna slowly walked toward her bedroom.

She had already changed into a simple home dress and tied her hair into a ponytail. After taking off her scarred armor and putting down the greatsword, the battle worn Inquisitor drew back all her killing intent. She now looked like a young lady who, like any ordinary person, had her own life and her own joys and sorrows.

At home, she did not hide her feelings or her worries, so Uncle had clearly seen how heavy her heart was. But during their talk just now, he had not asked anything.

The two of them had also, with silent agreement, avoided mentioning the Subspace divine blessing.

It was clear that Uncle did not want to add to her burden.

But Vanna knew very well that the burden in her heart just now was not only that so called Subspace divine blessing. It was not even about her own life and death.

She returned to her bedroom, closed the door, went to the dressing table, and took from the drawer the ritual dagger with the ornate patterns.

This was a sacred relic of the Deep Sea Church. It was also the gift that Valentine, the bishop, had personally blessed and given to her after she received baptism.

This sacred relic marked the beginning of her faith in Gamona, the storm goddess.