Chapter 1013: Otsuki Hana. 2
Hana and Vlad shuddered slightly as they witnessed Ophis's actions. For a moment, they saw her eyes turn into draconic slits. In that brief second when Ophis looked their way, they felt like they were in the presence of a natural predator.
This was understandable considering that the adult Ophis was far stronger than both Hana and Vlad at the moment.
[Alexios has discovered me.] Alexios warned.
And those words made Vlad realize just how capable his daughter was... His future daughter... Ah, he was confused!
'Darn, you shouldn't mess with time, things tend to get complicated very quickly.' He thought this because if the future Ophis was here, it would mean that she was introducing herself to him.
What would happen to the current future? After all, it couldn't remain the same; it would impact the predestined future in some way, right? Would a new timeline be born?
Vlad felt a headache just thinking about it.
[Alexios, delay the campaign against the Elder Gods for now, and inform the Adrasteia Clan of my decision.]
[Yes, Master.]
Hana took a deep breath, trying to calm herself... 'Okay, this is my daughter... My daughter from the future who somehow turned into a dragon! A DAMN DRAGON! But she's still my daughter.'
"Okay... You are our daughter, our daughter from the future," Hana said aloud, though it was clear those words were more for herself than for Ophis.
"Yes." Ophis nodded, too lazy to correct the misunderstanding. Because of her laziness, the two couldn't see the lie in her words. After all, in a way, Ophis wasn't lying; she is from their future, but from her point of view, this is a false reality. She is fully aware that she is still asleep in her father's arms.
"...So why did you come from the future?" Hana addressed the elephant in the room, the most important question both she and Vlad had in mind. "What is your goal here?"
"Who knows?"
Ophis's response nearly made them stumble awkwardly.
"My father was in the process of helping me awaken my divinity, and for some reason, I ended up here..."
'Okay, this is my daughter.' Hana confirmed again. This lack of interest, and straightforward yet brutally honest answers, were innate characteristics of the women in her clan.
"By your father, you mean..."
"Yes, Victor Elderblood," Ophis nodded. 'It's better to show them, I feel I can do that now.' She opened her hand, and for a few seconds, darkness with hints of violet formed in her palm.
Seeing the two tense as if they were prepared to do something, Ophis said, "Don't worry, I'm just going to show you what my father looks like."
The darkness formed in front of him, taking the shape of a man. The darkness began to grow, and the next moment, a 5-meter-tall man was seen.
He had long, messy black hair made of miasma, a robust complete armor that was black with violet hues shining with power, diachronic crimson violet eyes, and dragon horns, as well as huge dragon wings.
Hana and Vlad swallowed hard. Even though they were only seeing a representation, they could feel the power of this man. Even as just a representation, they felt weak, as if they were near a superior existence.
Their bodies trembled when they saw the eyes of that 'representation' moving.
They swore they saw a small smile move across that man's face!
'This is dangerous, extremely dangerous!' Vlad was going crazy with his sense of danger.
Ophis walked in front of her father, looking up. 'I feel so small now.' From Ophis's point of view, the representation of Victor seemed like a giant.
"He's something like this, I can't quite capture his beauty well." Ophis touched her chin. "He's even more handsome in person."
Hana swallowed hard for obvious reasons, she glanced at the representation's face, and unintentionally blushed a bit when she looked at his face, the next moment she turned away.
"Hana!?"
"Shut up, Vlad. You did the same thing." Hana accused.
Vlad fell silent in the face of this accusation, because Hana wasn't wrong. Despite the danger he felt, he couldn't deny that the man was beautiful.
The older Vlad would definitely want to kill himself if he heard this Vlad's thoughts.
Ophis ignored the two's discussion and looked at the representation of her father, even though it was just a false image, she felt very close to him, and it gave her a greater sense of security.
'I miss my mother. Now, I understand. I wish I could fix this, I wish I could bring her with me, but I know I can't, after all, this is a false reality.'
Victor's representation suddenly moved and knelt down, he stroked Ophis's head, and these strokes made a small smile appear on Ophis's face.
Even if it was just a representation made by Ophis's powers, this representation would move as Ophis thinks her father would move.
And knowing that his daughter is sad, he would definitely comfort her, he's so kind like that.
'You're right, Father. Even if I can't bring her, I can simply bring her back in the future.' Ophis chuckled lightly.
She now 'understood' why she appeared in the past, bottled-up feelings needed to come out, feelings that she herself didn't know existed because she ignored them all this time.
By understanding herself, her already prepared soul began to mature even more, and her divinity began to fully awaken.
Ophis looked at her mother and walked towards her mother. Victor's representation stood back up and watched from afar.
"... Ophis?" Hana asked confused.
"Lean down a bit, Mother."
"Okay...?" When Hana leaned down, Ophis jumped on her and hugged her deeply.
Hana shivered for a few seconds, but then just followed her instincts and returned her hug lovingly.
Small tears fell from Ophis's face. "I missed you so much... Until now, I didn't realize how much I missed you, I was too young to understand things when you died, but now I understand."
Hana shivered when she heard the 'death' part coming out of her daughter's mouth: "... Oh... Ophis."
She connected the dots, and quickly understood what happened, she wasn't stupid, the reason future Ophis appeared here and now, well before she set out on her expedition against the Elder Gods, was obvious. The mission went very wrong.
If Hana died, Vlad would make sure to dedicate his whole life to his revenge, he could very well see himself being obsessed with that revenge to the point of neglecting his children.
This observation was understood by Vlad too, and suddenly, he understood the reason his daughter had another 'father'. Vlad could be dense, and sometimes very stubborn, but he wasn't stupid, not when his wife was around at least.
If Hana died, Vlad would make sure to dedicate his whole life to his revenge, he could very well see himself being obsessed with that revenge to the point of neglecting his children.
"I wish I could extend this moment infinitely... But unfortunately, I can't, I have to go..." She withdrew slightly from her mother.
"I have to let you go... Even though it pains me greatly." She sighed with a slight ache in her heart.
"But don't worry, Mother. Father is the strongest, he can do things others considered impossible easily, I'm sure I'll reunite with you eventually."
"That's my promise, I'm sure I will bring you back, after all, I'm not the only one who misses you, my aunt Haruna misses you too."
Hana shivered when she heard the name of her little sister, who was very similar to her, but who had a greater taste for fighting than her.
"I love you, Mother." Ophis smiled gently, and kissed her mother's cheek.
Small tears fell lightly from Hana's eyes, her heart felt heavy as her brain processes all of Ophis' words and the consequences of her future, and what led to Ophis being here and now.
"...I love you too, my daughter." She hugged him even tighter.
"I know." She smiled gently. "I always knew." She pats her mother's back gently.
"I need to go."
Reluctantly, Hana pulled away from Ophis.
"Thank you, Mother."
"What are you thanking me for?" She sighed. "Just from what you say, I can imagine what happened in the future, and I can tell that I was not a good mother."
Ophis shakes her head. "You were a good mother, this little meeting told me a lot about you, who thought you would face those bitches? It was fun to watch, even if I wasn't paying attention."
"Humpf, no one touches my cub, not even those old statues."
Vlad felt quite offended by his wife's words against his other wives, but he didn't care much, he had his favorites, and Hana was clearly his favorite.
"You are like my father, you are a good mother." She laughed lightly.
"Thank you for existing, Mother. Thank you for being you."
Ophis floated towards Victor's representation and sat on his hand.
A solemn moment fell between the mother and daughter, the two looked at each other, Ophis was watching her mother to ensure she would never forget her appearance.
And Hana was observing Ophis's physical changes, her body was no longer a child, she was a full-fledged adult, wings sprouted from her back, and an oppressive power surrounded her body.
'Divinity…' Vlad immediately understood what it was.
That moment of silence was broken when Ophis felt a gaze behind her, looking at the representation of her father, seeing his gentle eyes, she sighed and understood that she should go.
She went back to her mother, and said: "See you later, Mother."
Crack.
Reality shatters like a mirror being broken, and Ophis opens her eyes wide.
She breathes heavily in an attempt to catch her breath.
"Easy, my daughter."
Looking at her father, Ophis' eyes were immediately filled with tears, and she hugged him tightly placing her face on his chest.
"Father, my mother..."
"I know…" He sighed as he gently stroked her back: "I know…"
Those words only made Ophis cry even harder. 'I'm a crybaby' she thought depressingly.
And these thoughts were soon erased by Victor's words: "Don't think about it, we all have our moments, bottling up emotions is never good, you must understand that now, my daughter."
"Mhmm." Ophis nodded.
"Just rest, you did very well in your task, I'm proud of you, Ophis."
A feeling of pride welled up in her chest when she heard Victor's words, she showed a small smile, satisfied and at the same time sad.
She felt very tired, even though her body was bubbling with energy, and she felt new powers available to her, such a thing didn't matter now, she just wanted to fall asleep in her father's arms like this...
"Just rest, my daughter. Leave everything to me." Hearing these words from her father and feeling the comfort of her presence, her eyes began to feel heavy, and a few minutes later, she had already fallen into the realm of unconsciousness.
"Good night, my little dragon." Victor kisses her head, and lets her sleep in his personal room in the main mansion, when leaving the room, he sees Haruna, Jeanne and Morgana standing there.
.....