I stood ready to see what Haley could do. Lory and Valentine were interested as well. As for Bob, he just lay there, purring, demanding to be petted. I swung my sword down gently, Haley easily deflected it. With quite some speed and good footing. I kept swinging my sword and Haley deflected them with ease, while laughing. She is clearly enjoying herself. She seemed to struggle a bit with her balance. Mostly her wings.
She started attacking, I deflected the blows. She went faster, and faster. It even became difficult for me to keep up. As she swung her sword at my face, in a reflex, I am battle trained after all, I dodged aside and slashed my wooden sword at her. Haley noticed the incoming strike, she turned and used her wing as a shield. I paused for a moment, to see if I hurt her. She instead thought I had left an opening, and she hit me with her wooden sword.
She chuckled, “I win this round!”
“Are you alright, Munchkin?”
“Yes, why?”
“I hit your wing, I am uncertain if that was wrong of me.”
“No, my wings are like shields.”
“Oh, alright, I was not certain, but yes, you won.”
Haley got in position, “Again!”
I looked at Lory, she nodded while petting Bob. I got into position, “Alright, how fast do you want me to attack?”
Haley smiled, “As fast as you can, punk!”
I sighed, “A six-year-old is giving me trash talk. I will be going gentle on you.” She swung her sword at me, while infusing it with purple energy. Even if she is faster, I blocked her blow and started swaying around them. More as if I am dancing around them. Haley is unrelenting and kept on going. I started swinging my wooden sword and she blocked the incoming blows. She suddenly swayed aside, mimicking my moves.
Before I noticed, she threw her sword into the air, holy crap, that is indeed a daughter of mine. What she did next, however, is even more remarkable. She jumped up, high enough to grab her sword and land behind me. Before I could turn around, she was able to stab me with her wooden sword. I turned around, “You are made for this, Haley. I did not see that move coming.”
Haley looked at her wooden sword, “Thank you so much for the present.”
“No worries, Munchkin, we thought you were ready.”
“Why don’t you go train with auntie Valentine? I want to talk to your mom.” Haley nodded and hugged me. Valentine got up, and I threw the wooden sword her way. She caught it. Then I walked over to Lory and sat down next to her. “What do you think, Lory?”
“I wonder what that purple energy is. I am able to use the power of the moon that resides within me, yellow energy. Valentine uses the power of water and the moon.”
I chuckled, “I am a boring, plain old human that just got outsmarted by his six-year-old daughter.”
Lory nodded, “To be fair, if she would not use energy, she stands no chance at all. Who knew that all the training we did in here, we were being watched, that careful.”
“Not me, but I wonder if we learn her to fight, what use is it. We are it doing mostly for upkeep, you needed to relearn old skills, but what is Haley going to fight for?”
Lory took my hand, “You know there will be big threats in the future. You are growing older, not to be mean, but you are not as sharp as you were six years ago, or hell fifteen years ago.”
I sighed, “You are right. I am getting weaker and less sharp. Training is keeping me mentally healthy, but if I grow older, fighting will not become impossible, just harder. I just hope, our munchkin will never see a real battle. As of now, she is just a kid who wants to be like her dad, a hero.”
Lory smiled at me, “No matter how old you become, you are my hero. And hers, you told the kid friendly version of your heroic deeds. She gets treated with special care because they tell her, her dad is the greatest hero that has ever lived. If she watches us carefully enough when training, she will probably follow in your footsteps.”
Lory sighed, “I am just wondering, what is going to happen when-” She turned her head away.
I gently turned her head towards me, “You can say it.”
She sighed deeply, “I wonder what is going to happen when this ends, and the real world comes back, you feel it too, right?”
I sighed, “Yes, I also feel it. It is scaring me, I don’t want this to end. We might lose Valentine and Riley, Megan and Bob.”
Lory shed a tear, “what if Haley is not real?”
“If she is not real, then we both just finish ourselves. I would rather not live without my little munchkin. What about, we fight it and stay here?”
Lory smiled, “We could fight it, but you know as well as me, when the chance arrives, and we miss it, we will be stuck here forever.” I looked at Valentine and Haley training, “Being stuck here forever would be nice, but will things change?”
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“Lory?”
“Yes?”
“We still have years, at least, that is what I feel. We should train for now and just enjoy what time we have left. While we consider what to do next.” We both leaned against each other and looked at Haley standing her ground by using her demonic wings to her advantage. Valentine needed to use her energy to keep up. I chuckled.
Lory looked at me, “What is so funny?”
“Now we also need to tell the school, our little girl has demon wings.”
Lory laughed, we saw Haley ran our way. Valentine seemed to be catching a breather. Haley looked at us, “Are mommy and daddy sad?”
I wiped away a tear and stretched my arms out, “Just a little, but I know what makes things better.” Haley flew into my arms. She just, loves hugging, Lory as well.
After that day, days started turning into weeks, those weeks turned into months, and those months turned into years. We trained almost every day with Haley, she grew bigger, her wings adjusted more to her real size. We had fun, we even went to Disneyland with Valentine and Riley, of course, Megan joined us too. Haley did not want to go on the fastest rollercoaster. Haley slowly grew into a wonderful woman. My face kept growing older and older, but I kept training every day. When locked in combat with Valentine, with a serious manner, I could take her down.
Haley now also watched our more serious fights. The ones where Valentine and I traded heavy blows and punched each other’s face in. We did it friendly and helped patch each other up afterward. Valentine won a few times, she improved a lot in fighting, and I slowly declined as I am way past my prime. Haley, however, she could beat me, Valentine and Lory in battle with ease, even three on one.
Another special day has arrived, Haley’s 18th birthday. I slowly woke up and put on my sweatpants. I grabbed a photo from the nightstand. Our wedding photo, I looked at Lory, she had also grown a bit older. Next to that photo, is one of a young Haley, she must have been around seven years old in this picture. I walked over to the bathroom. As I looked in the mirror, I just saw an old face. Both Lory and I could feel it, our end was drawing near.
We had decided to let, whatever was going to happen, just let it happen and hope for the best. Today Haley is turning 18, I need to put up some decorations. I walked into the room to find Haley, she smiled at me. Purple, long wavy hair slightly reveals a thin, frowning face. Wide silver eyes, set graciously within her sockets. I chuckled, “You were not supposed to be awake yet.”
She grabbed some coffee and handed it to me, “No worries’ dad, I won’t go to the dojo.”
“That is good, I need to check if everything is in working order, your present and all.” Haley nodded and walked over to give me a hug.
I went to the dojo and got surprised by Riley, he looked much older as well, he had hung up the decorations for me. He smiled at me, “Hey, Ipeefreely!”
I hugged him, “Mydude!”
We both chuckled. Valentine walked into the dojo, “Don’t tell me you guys are still doing that, yes, you love to play Dungeons and Dragons, play the virtual one already, stop with the board game. We have a lot more advanced technology.”
I laughed, “We are old, so we do it old school, right Mydude?”
“Yeah, what he said.” I started wrapping the present for Haley. Lory soon walked in with a jar of pickles. She never stopped eating them. I have gotten used to it by now. I looked around, “Did anyone invite Megan?”
Riley raised his hand. “Good, and where is Bob?”
Valentine looked around, “Most likely with Haley, or in her room.”
After Megan had arrived, with her guinea pig no less, it seemed everything was in order for a birthday party. Lory went to pick up Haley. When she arrived, everyone congratulated her. I shed a tear. Haley walked over to me, “What is wrong, dad?”
“Nothing, just, seeing you happy like this, makes me happy. Do you remember all the birthdays we celebrated in this place?”
Lory walked over, “Countless great memories.” Haley looked at her present under the big inflatable eighteen.
She laughed, “Can you crawl, dad?”
I sighed, “I am too old for that shit.” Haley looked at me, I let out a loud grunt, “Fine.” I went down on all fours, and she jumped on my back. “Just because it is your birthday.”
She leaned forward, “You are becoming slower each year.” Lory and Valentine, on the other hand, were still fast on all fours. The others slowly followed me, as we finally got to the present, I fell down and Haley jumped off my back with a front flip.
She tucked her wings on her back. You could still see them, but if she stretches them, those are some big wings. She has not learned to fly yet. Haley walked over to the present, Lory and I looked at each other, we could feel it, this was the moment. We could stop her, then we would be here forever. We both had doubts, and stared at each other, not knowing whether we should intervene or not.