We made it back to the village in time for nightfall. When we got to the foot of the hill the house sat on mom came running outside and hugged my frantically whilst crying. I really hope that mom doesn’t figure out that i bullshitted this guy with my puppy eyes, otherwise i don’t think life will be worth living.
“Thank the Ivona that you’re ok” ...damm it, I am very much glad i gave bullshit this pedo, otherwise he would tell mom that he found a ten year old little girl training under a waterfall a couple kilometers into the forest. At which point i believe mom would have a heart attack.
My father came outside a few seconds later with Blake in tow. Boy, did she look pissed, I can’t tell if she wanted to either hug me or kill me. If looks could kill, i would be in the deepest part of hell right now. She made a motion towards her head indicating she wanted to talk, i made back a motion that said ‘i
‘I’ll tell you later’.
“Fraxia! Thank the goddess you’re ok, what happened? Where have you been? You know that you should not stay out so late. What if a monster found you.” I am fairly sure the proper response to this question is not ‘Then i would kill it and cut off its fur and claws to make armor with’.
“I found her deep in the forest collapsed under a waterfall. She said something about medicine for Rachel here. It appears you didn’t explain pregnancy well enough to your daughter sis” …..wait what? Sis! This guy was talking to mom as if she was his sister. Wait then doesn’t that mean he’s my uncle…...great i have a pedo uncle. OK, first priority, find out more about this creeper.
“Mommy, who’s the strange lolicon? He took my clothes” You know what i’m just gonna throw this pedo uncle under the bus cause i really didn’t need him interrupting my training session.
“....Jack, what is Fraxia talking about.” at first glance it appears mom is very calm and poise, but if you know her personally like me, Blake, dad, and apparently this Jack guy, you could tell that she was ready to unleash the terrifying, nightmare incurring, psychopath mother bear mode. Of course i probably would if i found out my brother stripped my 10 year old daughter.
“Now now, calm down sis. I found her under a waterfall catching her death so naturally i had to get her a new set of clothes while the others dried.” oh ho, this guy is sooo dead. You NEVER make excuses when on the stand before the great judge psycho mother. You know from my time hunting in the forest i had learned about that look that an animal gets in its eye when it's cornered, this lolicon had that look.
“Oh really, and where are those clothes now, and why is she not wearing them, and how does a thin jacket count as a ‘set of clothes’” oh man, i wish i had some popcorn or something. She turned around and looked at me” Sweetie why were you looking for medicine, and what did he do to you” Ok its not fun when the gun is turned on you. Time to pass off the ball i think.
“Blake said you can find medicine in the forest, so i wanted to find medicine for mommy.” Ok let's work a little magic here as well. I quickly run into the house and grab a book that i constructed out of magic. In here i make a picture of a plant that kyanu told me about which can be used in alchemy to create a simple healing paste, of course i can’t just say that i know that this plant can be used in making medicine or i would be exposed, so i will use an illusion book. Since we don’t have many books in the house i’ll just say i borrowed it from Yuna, the elders youngest daughter who also happens to be a friend of mine. Since we were borrowing stuff from each other all the time they probably won’t know the difference.
I bring the book to mom and flipped open the ‘book’ to the bulshit page containing the fake entry.
Freshwater Lesser Snake Blossom
Uses: Medical, Cosmetic, Alchemetric
Rank: 2 Herb
Description: straight dark green stalk with large round leaves of the same color, small white thorns on the stalk about 1-2mm. The blossom is jade green on the outside and pure white on the inside with small. This plant lives in freshwater environments in waterfalls and underwater. you can tell the plants age by the shade of green the stalk is, the deeper the shade of green, the older it is. It's potency is based on it's age.
“Sweetie , i know you wanted to help, but mommy doesn’t need help. I’m going to be perfectly fine and i certainly didn’t want you to go into the forest and get hurt on. Please just ask your sister or daddy or me first before you do something like that again.” Phew, dodged a bullet there. Well sort of, i still have to convince Blake not to dance on my grave. Speaking of graves, i think this pedo uncle is about to get one. Mom looks like she's ready to move in for the kill, but since i’m nice i think i’ll help the poor guy out a bit.
“Mommy, who is that man who saved me, he called mommy sis?” let's throw this guy a life line shall we.
“Th-that's right little honey, i am your uncle jack, i am your mom's brother.” Great now tell me wtf your doing here. Last i checked we weren't expecting any uncle, only calamity.
“Yeah jack, you’ve been wandering for years, why choose to show up now.” My mother demanded.
“Well you see, katherine caught me while i was passing though and pawned the job of watching the kids off to me. Apparently she didn’t want to come back here for whatever reason, whats with that look. You know how she is.”
...
…
...Wait did i just that, i thought i was hearing things. FUCK YES, Calamity averted. I quickly look over to Blake to see her crying, thankfully nobody seems to be noticing...wait, doesn’t this mean i’m related to this lolicon….Not sure how i feel about that.
“Ugh, she’s never reliable is she, anyway we weren't expecting her till next week so we haven’t gotten a spare bed setup yet” Apparently even though Auntie apocalypse is unreliable, she still asked her to come live with us. Well on the bright side, She's not coming, bad news is, we have to live with a pervert for awhile….not sure if this is better than the aunt.
“Don’t worry about me rachel, i’m used to sleeping rough, and besides, i’ll just room in the inn in the village until something else can be sorted out.” he said.
“Well that's ok i suppose.” she turned to me and said “Sweetie he’s your mom's brother and your uncle. He will be staying with us instead of your aunt katherine for the time being.”
We moved into the house and mom sent me to bed early without dinner while Blake washed the dishes and the parentals had a conversation with dear uncle. After Blake finished the dishes, she came to our room and looked thoroughly pissed.
“Hey, Fraxia, i was waiting at the cottage for you to come back and you never showed. Dad was about to call the other villager guards to search for for when uncle jack showed up. What did jack mean he found you underneath a waterfall?” she said. I never told or brought Blake on my daily trips into the forest so she didn’t know the details of my training. All she knew was that her little sister kept going into the forest and coming out stronger.
“Yeah sorry Blake, i lost track of time and that guy came up and found me, which i still don’t believe was a coincident.” how did he know i was there in the first place, the waterfall was a fairly well hidden place with all the trees masking the sound and the high level monsters to deter people from wandering in casually.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“What do you mean you don’t think him finding you was a coincidence, he saved you from drowning in a waterfall based on what i heard.” Even the sister who knows i had magic after a few weeks of being born believed i almost died…..note to self, show off to sister how strong i have gotten sometime.
“Blake i was a few kilometers into the forest without any roads around in all directions, and yet somehow i meet a man who happens to be our uncle. I don’t buy it, not to mention that Auntie calamity was supposed to come a week from now.” i replied.
“So” Blake said.
“So, it takes at least a week to get here from the capital, it takes messages from here to the capital about 3-4 days to get there while traveling overnight, mom and dad probably sent word to our aunt katherine sometime last week, But then how did uncle jack show up in minimal time. By now aunt katherine should be packing for the trip yet uncle jack is here the next day. How?” I doubt Uncle pedo could go that fast over night so how did he know mom and dad sent word to katherine?
“And that doesn’t even explain the fact that he was wandering in the forest where no one has buisness wandering-”
“Except apparently you” she replied sarcastically.
“Of course, and out of hundreds of square kilometers of forest, he happens upon me. Blake sometimes up with-” i paused hearing something.
“What” she asked.
“Shh, i’m trying to hear what their saying” i could faintly discern raised voices from the background of wind blowing through the trees outside.
“Jack, you haven’t said a thing for years not so much as a letter, you didn’t even show up for your niece's birth. You're always off in another country doing who knows what, even as a kid you never could stay in one place at a time. So why should i believe you're here to help” Mom sounded like she was trying not to raise her voice but failing. I jumped up off the bed and tip towed over to the doorway so i could see out into the kitchen.
“Rachel, i’m trying to help you here. To tell you the truth Katherine's condition has gotten worse, i've heard she’s been in and out of prison for smuggling and illegal gambling. Do you honestly want her around Blake and Fraxia, i wouldn’t. Look i know i haven't been around much for the past few years, but here i am now. Please just give me a chance.” sheesh aunt Katherine has certainly gone downhill a lot since we last heard of her, ma probably won’t ask her for help for a few more years and i’m ok with that.
“Why now though jack, why of all times now.” mom doesn’t sound convinced. Sounds like there's a story here.
“ You remember Elena, that women i brought over back at dads funeral. I ended up marrying her and settling down in a small town in Valcorin and I had a job working as an auxiliary in the Dwarven army. One day i get home from work and find out that Elena is going to give birth to our child. After 16 years i was going to be a father." Huh, this guy had a daughter....he is still a pedo.
"Life was good until and we got a report of one of the mines under attack from a band of kobolds so my unit was dispatched to deal with the situation. Unknown to us it was a distraction, while we were dealing with the mine, more kobolds attacked the village. When we got back to the village, half of the houses where in flames. Neighbors and friends were running in all directions. When we managed to finish off the kobolds i ran to the house me and my wife had lived in for the last 16 years only to find it in flames. I tried to get her but i couldn’t find her in all the smoke and rubble. So i grabbed sophia and ran out of the flames, i turned around hoping to try again but then the roof collapsed.” He looked like he wanted to cry at this point. I from the doorway i could see the looks of pity on mom and dad's face. I didn’t need to look at jack to tell that he was thoroughly heartbroken remembering the death of his wife.
“After her death, i dropped Sophia off with her grandparents and just stopped living. I wandered for 8 years. When i couldn’t bear the nights where i would see her in my dreams i hit the bottle. Day after day i wandered and drank until i ended up in the beastmen capital of Arrun. I was in a bar when i saw sister katherine gambling and drinking. I tried talking to her to see if she knew where you were only to find out from her that you were pregnant with your 3rd child. She didn’t say whether she was going or not so i came in her place.”....geez this guy went through the ringer. I wonder what Elena looked like. Although this doesn’t explain the time discrepancy or why he was out in the middle of the woods.
“Jack..” my mother began.
“ I-i just can't take it anymore, i thought being alone would make me forget, give me time to get over her, but i can’t sis i just can’t. Every time i go to sleep at night i can’t get her out of my head. You know in a few weeks it would have been our 25th anniversary. When we got married i had gifted her a necklace and earrings made of tin. Then on our 5th anniversary i gave her a set just like the others except made of copper. It went on like that for years, bronze for our 15th, iron for our 20th, on number 25th it would have been silver. I spent months earning enough to buy that set. Then, she just..just.”...ok now that's kind of depressing. Honestly i feel bad for the guy, kinda wished i hadn’t poke fun at him to much earlier.
“Jack…” mom sounded like she hadn’t heard the story before. Seriously, that's messed up. Based on what he said it sounded like he was a great guy. Fate just keeps bullying poor jack, yet another reason for me to want to kick in Reoha’s teeth.
“Alright, i have no problem with you staying but the girls, particularly Fraxia might. If the girls are ok with it, then You can stay, we can ask them tomorrow but for now get some sleep.” Mom bid jack good night and he left for whatever inn he was staying at. Ok you know what, the way i see it, Reoha just gave me another reason to rip down their religious bullshit so i think i will accelerate the process of their imminent destruction.
I tip toed back to bed and filled Blake in on what i’d heard the parentals disscussing. “Thats horrible” Blake was instantly full of sympathy for jack when she heard my recount of his life story.
“Yeah, and it’s up to us to decide wether or not he can stay or not.” i said.
“Well obviously yes, Fraxia did you hear what he said. Uncle jack could use some support right now, especially when his anniversary is reminding him of her death.” she replied.
“I don’t know blake, theres still the issue of him showing up earlier than what should be possible. I don’t know if we should trust him or not.” i was not entirely sure if we even should listen to what he was saying. He could easily be making up a sob story to fool us, why, i don’t know but something is fishy.
“Fraxia, at least give him a chance. Just imagine, If you were in his shoes then what would you do.”
“….”
With potentially godly saboteurs or assassins everywhere i could be letting the enemy right in though the front door. Although if he is telling the truth i could get info from him about his travels and the dwarven country. The dwarven country itself is a technological wonderland and the only place i could go to try and replicate any of the technology from earth. So a choice has to be made, do i trust him and potentially let the enemy get closer or not trust him and lose out on a major opportunity.
“Come on Fraxia, please trust me on this one.”...oh fine i’ll give her this.
“Alright he can stay, but if he does anything weird to me then he goes.” i replied.
“Yay, thanks sis.” she quickly hugged me and jumped into bed snuggling with me under the blankets.
“Goodnight” she said quitely.
Why do i have a feeling that i should have just stuck with auntie apocalypse.