Savior! Redemption in Another World! - Chapter 77

“Why does your family have to be so weird? Also, what’s with them both showing up at the same time?” Teresa asked, walking up beside me as I stopped hugging Stephanie.

“What do you mean? His father is dead.” Stephanie replied, shocking me a bit. Damien is dead?

Eh, not like I really care. That guy was trying to kill me, whether he knew it or not.

“What? He was here like a few hours ago, even if you guys are separated it’s rude to make up lies about him. Gust was very kind and courteous after he figured out Antonio was working for me.” Teresa said, her expression getting angrier by the second.

“Yeah! Gust was a fun guy, and he didn’t try to kill any of us! Just threatened us a bit.” Flare said, standing back up before agreeing with Teresa.

“Guys I think-” Yet before I was able to say much, an icy glare from Stephaine shut me up completely.

“Antonio, dear, I think I understand a bit of what they’re saying. Are they implying that damn devil is your father?” She said, the smile on her face never reaching her eyes, let alone her voice.

“Uhh well, you see the thing is-” Once again I’m interrupted, not by Stephanie this time, but by Teresa.

“Are you saying he’s not? He’s much more of a parent than you! What kind of mother bombards her kid with murderous intent and tries to kill his friends!” Teresa says, defending Gust at what amounts to my own detriment. We’re really digging ourselves a hole here.

“Friends? Is that what you call yourselves? As if friendship can be born out of forced servitude.” Stephanie scoffs, as I can suddenly feel a shift in the mana density around her. It feels, thinner than it should.

“Shut up! Both of you! Mother these people are my friends I’m not being forced into anything, and Teresa it’s a long story.” I say, glancing between my now slightly confused party and my very confused mother.

“Come on, let’s take a comfortable seat around the fire, I can explain what I know once we’re all calmed down,” I say, leading the three angry women to specially conjured stone chairs around the fire pit.

After a few minutes of idle chat to calm people down, Ivy finally wakes up with a yawn and a stretch.

“Mornin guys, who are the three new people? Also, where’s Gust?” Ivy says, glancing between Stephanie and the rest of us.

Three? I think you need to get your eyes checked.

“Three people? Are you drunk or something?” Flare says, stealing the words right out of my mouth.

“No, she’s the most perceptive out of the lot of you.” A voice belonging to an older gentleman says, as two small figures float off of Stephaine’s shoulders.

One is an older-looking male fairy, complete with colorful eyes, hair, and wings to boot.

The other is something I never imagined, whether on this planet or on Earth.

Floating off of Stephaine’s other shoulder is just a small stone. No body, no organs, or any mode of communication, it’s just floating there. Menacingly.

Suddenly, in a brilliant flash of light, the small fairy and stone begin to change.

The small fairy man rapidly grew in size until he nearly towered over Stephaine, reaching well over seven feet tall. The stone simply shone a brilliantly bright blue color, and an entire person seemingly formed out of that light.

Standing at only about two feet tall, was a small eccentric-looking woman. She had translucent bat wings sprouting from her back, as a light flap allowed her to reach my eye level.

“So, this brat is the one who would have been my apprentice if that meathead hadn’t lost him? Interesting.” The eccentric woman said, looking me up and down with her multi-colored eyes.

“Allow me to introduce my, companions, you could call them. This is my master and also your aunt, Elandria, a full-blooded Faery and a very powerful mage. This older gentleman is a Faery known as Zerath, he’s your uncle and another powerful mage.” Stephaine said as Elandria and Zerath both gave a small nod when introduced.

“I see why you were so interested in this little guy! He has an absolutely insane mana capacity! I mean he’s what, nine? His mana well is almost as big as mine!” Elandria said, her eyes glowing a faint green color. That’s nice to hear, but also extremely creepy.

“Hoho! That’s my family for you, powerful from birth, more powerful later in life.” Uncle Zerath said with a slight chuckle. “Who might this girl be? I’m surprised you were able to detect our presence.” Zerath said, looking over at Ivy and gasping slightly.

Before I was able to even reply or think, Zerath simply continued talking.

“Ah, I understand now. You’ve chosen a fine partner Antonio, it’s rare to find a fellow Fae, let alone someone who’s a quarter spirit like you. Hmm, I wonder what type of monster will be born between an earth spirit and a wind spirit.” Zerath said, putting his hand to his chin.

I chuckled a bit at Ivy’s expense before I explained the situation to the three new faces.

“No no, these are my friends, uh, uncle Zerath. Teresa is my employer and a good friend, that’s Ivy our archer, and that’s Flare, our vanguard.” I say, gesturing to the three of them as I mentioned their names.

“Perfect, now that introductions and surprises are out of the way. We can talk about the elephant in the room. Why are you calling that  monster your father?” Stephaine said, her eyes and tone once again freezing over. “Do you even know how much of a curse that very saying is?”

“Well, I call Gust my father because at this point he basically is. A large number of my memories are within that village, being taken care of by Gust and Marble. He took me in when I was alone and cold in the forest and raised me as his son. If that doesn’t make him my family, I don’t know what would.” I say, speaking my mind for the first real time on the matter.

Gust is my family, he helped me when I was at my lowest in that forest, and even came to help me as soon as he was freed from the magic  I got him caught up in. If that’s not family, nothing is.

“Well, that would be just wonderful if that bastard was anything but a Tiamat. From this moment onward, you’re forbidden from calling that man your family, let alone your father.” Stephanie said, her fake nice tone and smile slowly degrading into a snarl.

“What? No. You can’t just barge into my life and demand I stop calling my father my father.” I say, my voice rising and anger rising as this conversation continued.

How dare you! If anything, anything at all, that I’ve encountered in this world is racism so far, it’s  that bullshit. So what if he’s a different race, he’s still my father!

“Antonio, boy, do you understand what exactly your saying, and exactly who you’re saying it about?” Zerath interjected, his voice strangely calm given the demands Stephanie was making.

“I’m saying it about my father, the man who raised me. Anything else I either don’t care enough to learn about or is irrelevant to the topic.” I say, allowing my voice to fill with venom.

“Do you know exactly what they did? What they still do?” Zerath said, his calm tone never faltering.

“What does it matter? So what if they hunt and live in villages, that’s no reason to treat them like savages.” I say as the only thing Stephanie and Elandria do in reply is snort.

“Nope. They don’t just live in villages, and they aren’t miscategorized as savages. They truly are savage creatures. Do you know why they got that name?” Zerath said, his voice still perfectly level and calm.

“Just tell me already or leave. I have a lot to work on and I’d rather not have to do this.” I say, sighing and pinching the bridge of my nose.

“They hunt,” Zerath said, his tone completely deadpan.

“So what? Everyone hunts eventually, it’s the cycle of life.” I say, sighing and tilting my head slightly.

“People. Faeries such as myself and your mother for instance. Tiamat hunt down Fae and rip off their magical extremities. It’s a type of sport for them.” Zerath said, anger slowly building into his voice.

What?

No no no, that simply can’t be true.

Gust is a good guy, he wouldn’t do something so heinous.

“I don’t believe you,” I say, as Zerath’s eye flashes between mine and my currently scared and bewildered party.

“You don’t have to, right away of course. But you’ll come to realize it eventually. Tiamat are not an inherently peaceful people.” Zerath said as if he was revealing his manifesto. What is this guy, crazy?

But, is that true?

Given everything Gust said, I have a sneaking suspicion…