After repeatedly rifling through the possible futures and finding that nothing bad happened in the throne room, he calmed down. I was thinking too much. He took a deep breath as the strings faded out of sight. Everything was going to be okay. Having seen the future his worries had been quelled, and he no longer fell behind the rest of the group.

It wasn’t long before they reached the door to the throne room. Wilfred knocked on the door as the group waited patiently for it to open. Lola visibly readied herself, as if she was heading into a great battle, and although it couldn’t be seen on their faces, it was clear that both Elaine and Wilfred were doing the same.

What’s going on? Ed’s senses swept around, trying to find what caused them to react like that, but he couldn’t find anything. Neither could Zara. But seeing everyone else's reactions, they readied themselves too.

But before they could fully prepare themselves, the door swung open and an overwhelming pressure flooded down on them like a vicious stampede. Ed and Zara were flung back down the hallway and crumpled to the floor, unable to move a finger.

Lola would have dropped to the floor as well, but she was being held up by Elaine. Only Wilfred and Elaine seemed to be unaffected by the pressure.

What the fuck? His head felt woozy as his vision spun and he struggled to even make out what was going on. He couldn’t see what was happening. He couldn’t move. He felt like he was going to die. He didn’t even have a chance of fighting back.

The pressure weighing down on him was extraordinary. He hadn’t felt anything like it. The pressure Elaine put on him that time in her throne room was child’s play in comparison to this. He was right. Lord Superbia wouldn’t hold back his godly presence at all.

Dealing with this now made him realise how lucky he was every other time he was even somewhat close to a god. If Urdhuri had released even the slightest bit of pressure against him, he would’ve been turned to dust.

Even with the gods he met after his soul awakened, when he was no longer fully human, they could’ve killed him before he could even move. He realised now how close to death he had come on multiple occasions.

The pressure continued to pound away at him, bruising and beating him to the ground. He felt his soul flare up and wane repeatedly. His soul was trying to fight back, to stand tall and maintain its dignity as a child of the greatest god to ever exist.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

But it was also far too weak right now. It could barely withstand the struggle when facing Elaine. And though he had grown stronger now, it wasn’t even close to being able to handle something of this level.

With his soul pushing back, the pressure lessened ever so slightly. He still couldn’t stand, and he could barely move, but his senses had returned to him. He tried to reach out for Zara. To see that she was okay.

His fingers, twitched as it inched closer to her. He exhausted all his strength to pull her in close. Feeling her warm body against his chest and hearing her faint breathing, he relaxed slightly. She’s okay. It’ll be okay.

Having been thrown so far back, they were quite a distance away from the rest of the group at the door, but he could still hear them from here.

“There’s my daughter!” A charming and magnetic voice rang out as something swooped through the door. Six majestic wings fluttered as Superbia moved gracefully through the air with unfathomable speed. He moved through the air like he was gliding on the ballroom dance floor. The moment lasted for but an instant, but also felt like an eternity. The way he moved was too beautiful. And too proud. Like a majestic bird of legend.

He swooped down and wrapped his arms around Elaine in a tight hug. “Oh how I’ve missed you!” And immediately his proud, perfect image was shattered. Replaced by that of an embarrassing dad doting on his daughter.

He hugged her tight and swung her around, even picking up Lola in his arms. Elaine’s face turned red from embarrassment as she tried to push him away. He had always taught her to be prim, proper, and perfect. But any time he saw them he completely threw all of his teachings out the window.

He was the type of dad that always found a way to embarrass her and make her groan.

“Father, we have visitors,” Elaine whispered through gritted teeth, trying to get him to stop.

“Oh. Of course, of course. Come in.” Putting her down, he waved his hand as he stepped through the door to the throne room.

Ed felt a power wrap around him. A comforting power, like soft cotton. It protected him and Zara from the pressure surrounding them. It also picked them up and pulled them through the air, through the door, and sat them down in the throne room.

After everyone in the group entered the room, the door closed shut behind them so that no one could intrude on them.

“There we are. Now it’s just us,” saying that, Superbia continued to attack his daughter, poking and prodding her in a teasing fashion. “Sooo, how’ve you been? Did you miss your dad?”

“I’ve been fine dad. You’ve only been gone for a couple of years. And besides, you’ve been texting or calling me every day. You know everything that’s happened while you’ve been gone.” Elaine was still embarrassed from the way he was acting. It would’ve been barely acceptable if it was just the two of them. At most she could begrudgingly accept him acting like this in front of Lola and Wilfred.

But she couldn’t accept him acting like this in front of Ed and Zara, that was just too embarrassing.