A bucket of cold water rested untouched since morning beside her bed. Her fever had finally died down.
Patter. Patter. Patter.
"Yes! Finally!" Aefia burst out the main gates of her castle. The sight that she was greeted with, was the sun sitting directly above the Guardian Realm. You could say... The time was resumed and now, they have proper morning, afternoon, evening and night.
There was no Eclipse faction and Rise faction, so there was no villains stay in the night and heroes stay in the day. No one still knows why that was invented though.
Besides...
"Seems like Sovereign mini-Seraphina is in a good mood," Khione said, folding her arms with a beautiful smile on her face.
Although there were now fourty-five Guardians, it was still better then the nine she first saw. And like always, meeting Seraphina's friends were actually a blessing. Though she truly wanted to see Seraphina more than that.
I mean... If Seraphina was actually her mother, then who wouldn't want to see how she looked.
"Uh... I actually have a name," she awkwardly said while climbing down the stairs to where they were.
"Yeah yeah... Sofia," Athena rolled her eyes.
"It's Aefia," she corrected. However, she didn't urge them more than that. Sofia was technically her name... Given that Aefia was derived from it.
She stepped down and walked along with them towards the back gardens.
"So... How has it been these days? Victoria is finally gone," she asked.
"It has been peaceful."
"It sure has." Khione chimed in, her steps elegant as her sweeping gown trailed her. Just like Matthew had described, these two were incredibly beautiful. You could stare at them all day and not grow bored.
"Anyway, thank you for taking up the hard work to rescuing us." Athena stopped, her expression softening. She reached a tanned hand towards Aefia's cheek, her thumb gently tracing her cheeks. "You are truly like her."
Aefia in return, smiled back.
"If she was truly my mother, then I suppose I did whatever she put into my mind after I was born," she softly replied. "It truly is sad she passed away."
Khione and Athena exchanged a glance, letting out a soft sigh.
"You look exactly like her. The black hair at least... Your eyes... I am not certain. But looks just like your grandfather."
The word grandfather... Was strange to even hear.
"Stop... That guy did nothing to stop his daughter from death," Aefia answered, quite sharply.
A moment of silence took over.
Athena's hand slowly retracted from her face. "Well it is only fair that you act that way... Afterall, your mom is the one who died. We all know how it must feel. However, now that we know, we will try to help you through how we were to help your mother through."
It was calming to hear, after all that she had to see the past few months. She let out a deep breath.
"Oh. Have I given you a tour through the Guardian Realm? You have been gone for eighteen thousand and a hundred years, so many things have changed."
"Sure. We would love that." They smiled while speaking in unison.
The next thirty minutes, Aefia was a constant blabbermouth. She pointed at things that were not there before, showed the new locations of buildings and factions, and also talked about the history of the realm that they missed. They all had much to learn.
At the end of the tour, when they came to a halt, Khione opened her mouth to ask a question.
"Kid... How old are you?"
"I am turning seventeen is a few weeks." She answered honestly. "Though I actually grew up fifteen years on Earth... So the time difference may seem long between Seraphina's deaths and my birth."
They looked silently at her face. Their face calm, but a storm was clearly going through their mind.
"Does that mean your mother probably left you in another planet to grow so that she can keep you safe from this Realm's danger."
"Possibly." Though she didn't know why it seemed strange. Till now, she has been surviving by this title because they gave it to her. She didn't know the story of her birth, or how she ended up there. Nothing. Yet... If these wise people claim it, she didn't want to defy them.
Besides... Being treated like royalty felt nice. Better to use it all before she finds out the truth.
"Alright kid... You have to speak to your father."
"My... Father???" Aefia looked at them, baffled. "He doesn't even want to see me..."
"Then we will force him." They reached forward to drag her by the arms while she stayed petrified.
"Wa-wa-wa-wait," she skidded on her heels to a stop. "How... Do I know he is my father?"
"...Do you even know who we are taking you to?"
"The Guardian of Time...?"
"That guy had been behind your mother for two-and-a-half decades. Who else could possibly be?"
"I don't know...! I just don't want a misunderstanding!"
"Don't worry. He will accept you whether he likes you or not."
"Hold on!" Aefia yelled, her heels digging into the smooth cobblestone, leaving faint skid marks as Athena and Khione dragged her down the grand marble arcade like a reluctant sack of potatoes. "Can we at least talk about this?! What if he's in a bad mood? What if he tries to turn me into a clock?!"
"He won't turn you into a clock," Khione replied serenely, not even breaking her elegant stride. Her sweeping, icy gown glided effortlessly over the floor while her grip on Aefia's left wrist remained as firm as enchanted iron. "He might glare at you until you melt, but he won't touch a hair on your head. Not with us here."
"That does not make me feel any better!" Aefia squeaked, desperately trying to pull her arm back without irritating her stiff, bandaged shoulder. "Look at me! I look like I just crawled out of a cave! I am just recovered from a fever! Is this really the best time for a family reunion?!"
"It's the perfect time," Athena chimed in with a wide, wicked grin, her tanned hand firmly anchored around Aefia's other elbow. "He's been sleeping in his tower like a princess for eighteen thousand years. It's high time someone shook his little world up, and who better than his own daughter?"
"I don't even know if he wants someone to join his life anymore!" Aefia protested, her garnet eyes wide with genuine panic.
Before she could invent another ten excuses to escape, the three of them rounded the grand pavilion and stopped abruptly before a set of massive, towering mahogany double-doors—where another person was looking down at them.
"Help!" Aefia yelled, catching sight of a familiar figure strolling casually down the arched corridor with a stack of files tucked under her arm. "Pandora! Tell them to let go!"
Pandora stopped dead in her tracks. She looked at Aefia, whose heels were frantically skidding across the marble floor, then at the two formidable Guardians flanking her with triumphant, unyielding grips.
"We are taking her to her father," they answered back.
For a brief second, Pandora blinked, gears turning behind her eyes as she connected the dots—the sudden commotion, the proud "aunt" expressions on Athena and Khione's faces, and the sheer, unadulterated panic in Aefia's garnet eyes. The amusement hit her all at once. A wide, thoroughly evil smile spread across Pandora's face as she tucked her files under one arm and altered her course to join the procession.
"Oh, perfect timing," Pandora said smoothly, falling into step right beside them. "I was actually on my way to my brother's office anyway. Mind if I help guide the delivery?"
"Pandora!" Aefia squeaked, her eyes widening in utter betrayal. "You literally told me an weeks ago to take things step-by-step! You said not to poke the dough while it turns into bread!"
"And this is the dough turning into bread," Pandora laughed, reaching out to gently tug a lock of Aefia's hair—noticing how the deep black faded into a striking, stark silver at the ends, a permanent mark left behind from when Aefia had accidentally overconsumed her magic while bleeding out in an intense, mentally unstable battle.
"Besides, watching Chronos squirm in shock is a once-in-a-lifetime show. I wouldn't miss this for the world."
"Traitor!" Aefia groaned, feeling betrayed. Until... She saw Helio walking around at the Guardians too. Maybe he could help?
He was leaning casually against the stone railing, a cup in hand, watching the chaotic parade drag his girlfriend through the courtyard. Instead of rushing down to save her. He simply smirked in answer, taking a slow sip.
Aefia glared back at him with venom, narrowing her eyes and exaggeration-mouthing four very clear words:
You. Are. Sleeping. Outside.
Helio's smirk only widened, letting out a silent, amused laugh as he raised his cup in a mock toast, watching her get hauled away.
"Traitor number two," she muttered under her breath.
The trio—now a quartet—marched Aefia straight up to the towering obsidian doors of the headquaters. They stopped right in front of the door.
Aefia swallowed hard. I thought this day was going to be one of the best.
Without knocking, Athena raised her foot and kicked the heavy obsidian door right near the latch.
BANG!
The massive doors groaned and swung inward. The room inside was peaceful... Until the paperworks were flying around due to the impact.
The walls were lined with clocks. Like this was a room to keep track of all time zones.
Sitting behind the desk, engulfed in work, was the Guardian of Time.
He didn't even look up at the grand entrance. He wore a high-collared, off-white coat over dark garments, his long, wavy ash-colored hair falling slightly over his face as his hand moved rhythmically, signing stack after stack of temporal documents with an ink pen.
"Pandora... Enough with your childish pranks..." He muttered under his breathe.
"I thought I made it clear," Chronos spoke, his voice dangerously smooth, cold, and dripping with absolute annoyance. "Unless the Realm is actively falling apart, no one enters my sanctuary without—"
"Shut up, Chronos," Athena interrupted casually, shoving the massive doors fully open and hauling Aefia right into the center of the room. "We are here to deliver your daughter. No returns, no refunds."
Chronos let out an irritated sigh, his pen pausing mid-word. He slowly raised his head. His sharp, yellowish-brown eyes narrowing as they swept over Athena, then Khione—also Pandora—before finally landing squarely on the small, bandaged girl being held hostage between them.
The silence that fell over the entire room. The only sounds from the clocks, made it seem like a bomb was ticking.
Chronos's eyes locked onto Aefia. He stared at the messy black hair falling over her forehead. The sharp, defensive set of her shoulders, and finally... Those glowing, fiery garnet eyes staring back at him with a mix of reluctants and utter panic.
His hand, still holding the quill, stiffened. The ink at the tip dripped onto the parchment beneath—creating a dark, spreading stain representing the passing seconds.
For a brief, agonizing second, the arrogant, stoic Guardian of Time looked like he had been struck by lightning. A ghost from twenty-nine years ago seemed to hover directly behind the girl standing before him.
"What..." Chronos's voice lost its smooth, icy edge, dropping into a low, gravelly whisper. "...is the meaning of this?"
"Well," Khione spoke up, releasing Aefia's wrist with a gentle, satisfied pat on her shoulder. "We brought you your daughter. You are welcome."
Aefia nearly choked on her own breath. "Khione!"
Chronos stood up so fast his heavy leather chair scraped violently against the stone floor. He slammed his palms onto the desk, his ash-colored hair falling forward as he glared down at the four of them, his breath stuck in his chest. "I—"
"And if you already knew, then why haven't you been bragging about her?! Look at her! She just dismantled Victoria's entire faction in less than a half-an-year! Our little girl is a absolute genius!" Athena interrupted him, completely unbothered as a massive, proud grin spread across her face. She stepped up beside Aefia and threw a heavy, affectionate arm over the girl's uninjured shoulder, pulling her close.
"Excuse me? Our little girl?!" Aefia squeaked, slightly squirming under Athena's suffocating side-hug.
"She has my sharp instincts, obviously," Khione declared, stepping up to Aefia's other side and gently touching up a stray strand of Aefia's black hair. "And Fina's work ethic. Honestly, Chronos, it's a miracle she inherited none of your terrible social skills. She actually knows how to talk to people without making them want to throw a book at her."
"Hey!" Aefia protested, her voice going an octave higher as both legendary Guardians stood over her like proud stage-mothers presenting a prize-winning puppy. "I am right here! I can hear everything you're saying!"
Chronos pinched the bridge of his nose, a faint, dangerous vein pulsing near his temple as he stared at the ridiculous scene unfolding in his quiet—once-peaceful—sanctuary.
"I know that she is my blood," Chronos muttered, though his eyes lingered on Aefia with a quiet, undeniable warmth hidden beneath his usual annoyance. "And both of you are making my head ache."
"Oh, please! You love it," Athena laughed, giving Aefia a gentle nudge toward the desk. "Now sit down and be a proper father for once."
"Yes, yes... I will talk to her." He answered under his breath, completely exhausted.
"Well, our job here is done!" Khione declared, clapping her hands together. "We will leave you two to catch up. We have a seventeenth birthday party to plan!"
"And... do not break her, Chronos... You can be too harsh sometimes." Athena warned serenely.
"Good luck, brother~" Pandora sang out with a wink, lingering just long enough to throw a sharp, lethal 'you better be nice to her' glare directly at Chronos before stepping out and pulling the heavy obsidian doors shut behind them with a heavy thud—that made it even more awkward for them.
The funnier fact was... They both knew.
Though he didn't even say it. She already saw in those two small seconds how his eyes said, "I know."
He just stayed completely, utterly silent still. Since he also knew that she knew that he knew.
The unspoken truth hung heavily between them in the quiet hum of the ticking clocks around. His gaze drifted from her sharp, garnet eyes down to the silver-tipped ends of her black hair—a detail that made a subtle, painful knot form in his chest.
"I can't say much about this... But your actions are much like hers too."