“Good work today, everybody.” Lauren said to her team. They were working on a rather luxurious inn near the north-western gate of Flester’s Might.
Her small team nodded and said their pleasant goodbyes as they finished packing up all of their tools. Lauren didn’t understand the point of the inn — the dungeon town was to the north-east and Foizo was just a short journey away. Why somebody would want to build an inn away from it all, and one that would necessitate so many people working in it was beyond Lauren.
But the job paid well, and Sally was more than happy to listen to stories of whoever fought the big scary elemental at the top of the library. Every day the tree came to life with flames and magic flowing through the massive arena visible even to Lauren from the edge of town.
The most exciting ones were the groups of mages. Brilliant flashes of light and devastating shows of magical power as elements filled the arena, toppling it. Sometimes, the groups would fail. Which always posed a difficult question for Lauren and Peter.
Should Sally hear of the failures too? Would it be good for her to see the dangers the world posed at an early age, or would she be better off kept away from everything. Her innocence preserved while it still could be.
Lauren followed the last person out of the framed building and along Flester’s damaged wall towards the dungeon town. Sometimes she chose to wander through the forest to Foizo instead — it wasn’t a long walk and the forest was nice. But today she found herself distracted, and the road was safe.
Sally was coming up on her seventh birthday soon, and for now they decided it was best to try and strike a middle ground. A child’s privilege was to be unaware of what the world was, the evils that crept around the corners and threatened to uproot your life. Death and pain had little place in their life, not at such a young age.
But at some point, Sally would be an adult. She’d be taking her first class in just over a year, and they still weren’t sure what to do for it. Zoe had spoken of a feat she got from waiting decades to take her first class, but was it right to force their child to live through that? Even if she became an immortal, even if it granted her power beyond what she could be capable of normally, was it worth it?
And were they the ones that had to make that decision for their child? The older Sally got, the more Lauren realized that nothing she’d experienced before truly prepared her for raising a child.
There were books of course. Classes that older women ran to help walk you through it, maids and nannies who would help care for them. Though they never opted for those services. Sally was their child, and as much as Foizo had grown on them, trusting Sally’s welfare in the hands of some stranger?
Let alone discomfort, that was a thing of nightmares. The idea that somebody else would have some control over their little girl, that they’d influence and change her was just unthinkable. The books were helpful, but only so much. What foods should children eat, what should their emotional development be like. How healthy and large should they be.
Nothing prepared them for the decisions they had to make. The weight of the responsibility that having a child put on them. And they loved it, they did. Both of them. Not a moment went by that they regretted having Sally. Not a day passed when her wonder at something new or joy at a warm, home cooked meal didn’t fill them with pride and wash away everything bad that happened.
But it was so much more than she expected, and Lauren found herself often thinking back to her mother. A nasty person, but as difficult as it was to accept, she could almost understand it. Being saddled with this responsibility when you don’t want it would be hard.
It didn’t excuse the behaviour. Lauren’s mom wasn’t somebody she could ever forgive, not somebody she thought she’d ever even want to forgive. But maybe she was a symptom of some greater problem. Maybe if she was educated, maybe if she’d been given the support she needed and the help she craved, then Lauren’s life would have been different.
But that was a whole different can of worms that Lauren hated touching on. Did she want her life to be different? There was a history of trauma, of hatred and pain that brought her to where she was.
Was it worth getting right of that history if it meant she’d end up somewhere else? Would she be happy if she was somewhere else? As terrible as her life had been, it wasn’t terrible anymore. She and Peter were together, living in a town that accepted them. With friends who cared for them and a little baby girl that they’d do anything for.
Lauren smiled as she walked past the statue set in the center of Inkley. The stone mask resting on Zoe’s face always amused her, but it seemed to work as many people questioned who she was. The mysterious hero who cleared the dungeon mere minutes after it was created.
Anybody who knew Emma and Jeffrey could put two and two together, but their little town was growing beyond them. One day, they might even rival Flester’s past greatness and the statue set just outside the dungeon would be a mystery. Or maybe people would talk, and Zoe’s attempt at keeping a low profile would fall apart.
The road back to Foizo was nice. Wide enough for a couple carriages to ride side by side comfortably, with packed in dirt and even some waist high fences along the side. Enough to keep out some of the aggressive wildlife, though not if they were determined. Some argued for it to be taller — some even wanted the road built entirely underground, but while the road wasn’t terribly long it was long enough to disrupt the animal’s normal habits. And a tunnel was just ridiculous, Lauren thought.
Who was going to dig a tunnel large enough to carry multiple carriages side by side stretching the entire distance? That would take an enormous amount of effort, even for a high level earth mage. Just ridiculous.
Lauren made it home as the sun set on the horizon, casting long shadows over Foizo’s streets.
“Mommy!" Sally jumped into Lauren’s arms as she opened the door.
“Oof!” Lauren grunted as she caught Sally and lifted her up. “Hello to you too!”
“Dinner’s just about ready!” Peter called out from the kitchen.
Lauren smiled as she put Sally down and watched her run off to the kitchen. Soon, her job would be over and she could get back to working at the restaurant with Peter. What a wonderful man he was, she thought as she walked into the kitchen and watched him and Sally work away at the stove.
He couldn’t be better if Lauren had the chance to plan out her perfect partner. Kind, caring, helpful. Understanding, funny. Amazing in bed, Lauren smirked to herself and walked up to hug Peter from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder.
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“Good day today, sunshine?” Peter asked.
Lauren nodded. “I’m looking forward to joining you again.”
“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, you know? We don’t need the money. Ah! Not that one, hon.” Peter said, stopping Sally from grabbing a hot pan filled with a delicious looking omelette. “That one’s hot, okay? You need to grab it with a cloth.”
Sally laughed and ran off to grab a cloth from the closet. Lauren looked at the one Peter had left on the counter and laughed.
“I know I don’t. I like the job though. I got to put together my own team, get to run it all myself. I even get a say in some of the design aspects of it. I just miss you.” Lauren kissed him on the cheek.
“I miss you too, sunshine.” Peter kissed her back.
Lauren let him go and sat down at their dining table. Peter had brought out the smaller one that just fit the three of them, which Lauren appreciated. They had a larger one for when they had guests over but it felt so impersonal when they were alone. Half the joy of eating together came from sharing, and when you were spread out so far it was hard to do that.
“Zoe stopped by earlier.” Peter said as he pulled out another pan from their wood stove, with browned slices of brul covered in more cheese than Lauren thought to be ethical melted over top of them.
“Oh? What did she want?" Lauren asked.
“She brought more toys.” Peter answered.
“More! How many is she going to make?” Lauren laughed.
Peter shrugged. “She’s trying something new apparently, but keeps getting distracted making toys for Sally and the cats. Who knows. We’ll have to donate some of them soon, I think.”
Sally came running back in with a small cloth. “I got a cloth, daddy!”
“Great, do you think you could pick up the omelette pan and bring it to the table? Wrap the cloth around the handle here and be careful, okay?" Peter asked.
Sally nodded and picked up the pan with both hands then carried it the few steps over to the table like she was carrying a dangerous enchantment that would explode if she dropped it. Lauren summoned a thick cloth to put in the center of the table so the heat wouldn’t damage it, and Sally placed the pan down in the middle.
Peter carried over the cheese covered brul slices and placed them onto the pan and sat down next to Lauren. “Dig in!”
“Dig in!” Sally giggled as she sat down on the other side of Lauren, across from Peter.
“Well don’t mind if I do then, my beautiful chefs!” Lauren said as she summoned plates and cutlery for the three of them and pulled her cheesy brul away from the omelette. Some of the cheese fell off and covered the omelette, but Lauren scooped it out with a large spoon she left in the pan.
Sally giggled at being called a chef and then grabbed her own slice of brul, leaving the cheese behind. Peter scooped it out and placed it on her plate for her before he served himself.
“Zoe brought more toys today! Idu really likes them.” Sally said with a mouthful of cheesy brul.
“Does she?” Lauren asked.
Sally nodded. “Mhm! There’s this little ball that looks really anxious and jumps around when daddy charges it. Idu was jumping everywhere with it.”
“Is that your favourite one?” Lauren asked.
“Yup. It’s the best one. Daddy thinks so too.” Sally said.
Lauren looked at Peter and he smiled. “It is pretty cute.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll have to come see it after we eat then, too.” Lauren laughed.
The three finished dinner over a story of the latest conquerer of Flester’s Might which enraptured Sally. A powerful group of mages threw themselves at the flaming tree, sending water and ash flying around the canopy.
“I wanna be a mage! Mages are cool.” Sally said. “Can I be a mage?"
Lauren and Peter looked at each other. Sally had been more and more interested in getting her class as she grew older. At first she wanted to be a carpenter like mom and dad, then she wanted to be a cook like mom and dad. Then she wanted to be a warrior, and a fisher and for the last almost year she’d been wanting to be a mage.
Which was a difficult decision. Sally, like most people Lauren knew, had been putting all of her stat points into Vitality. Or at least Peter and Lauren trusted she was, there was no real way to be sure. Which was great for staying alive, but for getting a decent starting mage class? Useless.
Maybe Zoe would be able to lend a helping hand at some point. Eight years old was so young to be making permanent decisions for the rest of your life, Lauren had begun to realize. How it was so normalized was almost surprising. At eight years old, you were expected to be able to decide on what the rest of your life would be? And people just thought that was okay? Lauren used to, too, until she saw another path shoved in her face.
“Maybe, honey. You’ve still got over a year to figure things out, okay? We’re gonna make sure you get exactly what you want, alright?” Lauren said.
“Mage! I wanna be a mage. I want to fly like Zoe does.” Sally said as they wandered through the house in search of Idu.
The cat was social most of the time, but seemed to have a sixth sense for when somebody wanted to find her. In the morning when Lauren just wanted to sleep a little longer, Idu would be walking all over her, rubbing her butt in Lauren’s face.
But now, when Lauren wanted to see what the big deal was about? Vanished.
“Idu!” Sally shouted. “Pspspsp!”
Idu came running out from Sally’s room and rubbed up against her legs. Sally giggled and bent down to pet her behind the ears and Idu began to purr.
Peter summoned a small cloth ball and pushed some mana into it. In an instant, Idu’s eyes locked on the ball Peter was holding. He swung it back and forth and Idu’s head followed it back and forth, then he tossed it into Sally’s room.
Idu jumped up to try and catch it but missed it, then ran off into Sally’s room. Lauren looked in and saw the ball jumping around, tiny gusts of wind and twisting space shoving it around in random directions as the cat batted at it with her paws.
She’d pounce on it and grab it in her paws, pinning it to the ground so she could chew on it before it would somehow twist itself out and leap across the room. Idu jumped into the air and ran around chasing it before the mana in it seemed to wear off and she caught it, ripping into the cloth and covering the floor in torn fabric.
When her prey was finished, she sat up and started cleaning herself. Clearly full of pride from her victorious hunt. Peter swept in and picked up the toy, filling it with more mana as the cloth stitched itself back together in front of Lauren’s eyes.
“Okay, it’s pretty cute.” Lauren laughed.