Haley and her party followed Hades and Persephone towards Reaperhelm. Melin nudged Haley, “Now you can see where I grew up. It has been a long time ago. I am ancient.”
Haley looked at her, “I am not a gold digger, I promise.”
Abby burst out in laughter, “Steve accused me of being a gold digger once.”
Haley looked at her, “When you were his rebound?”
Abby suddenly froze, “He actually told you about that?”
Molly looked at Abby, “Who is Steve?”
Haley sighed, “That would be my dad.”
Molly blinked a couple of times, “You are eighteen, right, Haley?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“And Abby dated your dad? I assume Steve is your dad? My brain is having some trouble processing this.”
Haley nodded, Molly started pointing, “Abby?”
“Yes?”
“Did you bone a forty-year-old dude?”
Bella sighed, “Can’t we find a nice word for saying that?”
Lisa raised her hands, “They made fireworks together!”
Abby sighed, “to be fair, when I made fireworks with Steve, he was 29 years old.”
Molly scratched her head, “That is impossible, that would mean he had Haley when he was like twelve.” Haley giggled and Melin joined her. Molly poked her while they kept walking, “What is so funny about this?”
“My dad lived in a special world where he grew older, he had his own life, I was born there. He grew much older, he was nearing his fifties. Then we came back to this world, and he was young again. My dad is much older than he appears to be.”
Hades smiled at them, “I am much younger than I look.”
Lisa sighed, “This is all so confusing if you were not there when it all happened.”
Persephone grunted, “We are almost at the village. Can we stop talking about Steve?”
Haley looked at Melin, “Is there something wrong with my dad? People don’t seem to like hearing about him.”
Melin let out a sly smile, “There will be a trial for you later. She can partake, right, dad?”
Hades turned around, “You can’t just let people partake in the trial.”
Melin kept staring at her dad, Hades hung his head, “Fine, if she proves she is worthy, then she can take part in the trial.”
Melin cheered and hugged her dad. “Thank you dad,” she even gave him a kiss on his cheek.
“Yeah, everything for my little tulip.”
Bella crossed her arms, “For a family that rules the underworld, they seem mostly like any family. Except for the godly powers and the ability to send souls wherever they please, lest the ethereal vortex did not take them.”
Lisa nodded, “It all seems like a well oiled machine if the ethereal vortex weren’t malfunctioning. Every department has reapers and places to send the many souls that have perished.”
Abby nodded, “And souls can visit the grand council from this place, right?”
Persephone looked at her, “Yes, Bella has done so many times. She has died a lot! She even died once when-”
Bella raised her hands, “No, don’t say it, I am still embarrassed about that! I hate shapeshifters.”
Everyone looked at her and Bella turned red, “I am sorry, we are almost there, ignore my outburst.”
They kept on walking, eventually, they came out on top of a hill. Haley walked to the edge and gasped, “Wow, this is, amazing.”
A river ran through the village, there stood tens of houses and two bridges that connected the two parts of the village. Some houses had damage to them. On the west side, Haley saw a forest, some people were preparing to chop wood. On the other side, to the east, there appears to be a mountain with a cave. In the north is a giant temple. The houses have blackened rooftops, gloomy wooden walls and thick smoke hung above the village. The people looked like, regular people instead of the dead souls the ferryman picks up, or the ones in the river.
Most of the houses were equal in size, a house with two floors, and they probably had the same layout. There were also two portals that people came through, they carried carts with food, clothes and other items, most of the people were wearing robes.
Abby walked over next to Haley, “This is indeed amazing. This will be our home for the coming years.”
Haley nodded, “We have no choice, but it looks appealing.”
Melin walked over, “My dad assures me, he is preparing a house where all of us can stay together.” She pointed at one of the bigger homes. “Haley, Abby, Bella and I will be staying there. If Molly and Lisa do not mind sleeping on a couch, or on something soft on the floor, then that is possible. We can check it out later, but first we need to help with some repairs. Abby, please help with unloading the supplies.”
“Sure thing.”
Melin pointed, “Those are storage spaces, you can ask the people for help. Once things have calmed down, everyone can meet the elder. Bella, you are handy, please help with some science things, like the watermill. Haley, you are coming with me to the trees.”
Haley looked at Melin, “Well, you heard her guys, she is the princess after all. We all need to pull our own weight.”
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Bella walked over to Haley, “You are just backing her, since you want to gain her favor.”
Haley blushed, “No, I just think we need to earn a space in that nice home.”
Melin chuckled, “It is alright, thanks Haley.”
Molly and Lisa walked over to Haley. “We are tied to you, but do you want us to come with you to the trees?”
Haley shook her head, “I have seen some injured people, you can use my energy to heal them.”
Molly looked at her, “I am not a super being with energy.”
Haley walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, “You are a smart young lady. You may not provide a huge power boost, you do make me smarter. If you help with building the house in my head, and help me wherever you can, you can access some of my energy. We are one being, my strengths, are your strengths, our weaknesses, are our weaknesses.”
Molly nodded, “Thank you very much, Haley. Lisa and I will do our best to not let you down.”
Lisa walked over and hugged Molly while stretching her arm towards Haley. “We are connected, we can fight, or we can become friends. I vote for friends.”
“Good, now, let’s show the king and queen how good we can help!”
Everyone split up and Melin guided Haley to the forest. Melin handed her an axe, Haley took it, “Why can’t I just use my energy?”
Melin smiled, “This forest is alive, the wind that you hear passing through the forest, those are the voices of the trees that weep for the villagers. They don’t want them to get attacked and harmed. Luckily, there are some gods in this village. They live like normal people among them. While they may not slay the beasts, due to not being able to meddle in mortal affairs, they do save the lives of the villagers if they are endangered. There are a few gods that disobey this rule. My dad does not like that, he does not want friction with my uncle. It always ends up bad, for the humans, not for them.”
Haley nodded, “Alright then, I will respect the trees, and not use my energy.”
Haley started chopping the tree with her own brute strength. Melin smiled while chopping her own tree, with one hand. Haley stopped to catch a breather and looked around. “I guess, this allows me to jump from the nest and forge my own path. Maybe I have been too attached to my family.”
She grabbed something out of her inventory, a wooden sword. “My mom and dad gave me this. There is something I need to learn, something my mom and dad could not teach me. Since they both do not have that skill set.”
Melin looked at her, “What skills are you talking about? Your mom and dad raised you in a warrior’s way. They taught you many skills while you were being raised.”
Haley nodded, “They did, and I am glad about that. But, my mom and dad have problems with letting go. Like, my dad is so attached to things, he will bend heaven and earth, the same goes for my mom. Yes, it is sad they lost people. There is a reason why I wanted my dad to entrust this to me.”
Melin tilted her head and let out a warm smile, “You can confide in me.”
Haley walked over and gave her a gentle kiss. “Thanks Melin, I am afraid, if my mom and dad would do this, and things would not pan out the way they wanted, they would go insane. I am scared, that if I lose my mom or dad, it is going to warp the other one.”
Melin shook her head, “Warp?”
Haley nodded, “I overheard them talking a while ago, when we were in the void dream. They were renewing a promise, that if something were to happen to the other, they would shatter heaven and hell, even end existence, if it would mean they can be together again. They also told me they would never tell me.”
Melin put down her axe, “Haley?”
“Yes?”
“Are you really sure, like 110% sure, that you heard that correctly?”
“Yes, why Melin?”
“Just keep chopping that tree,” Melin dropped her axe and ran away.
Haley looked at her running away and shrugged. “That must be some important information.” She looked around, “I feel lonely. Where are Molly and Lisa when I need someone to talk to?”
Haley continued chopping the tree and when it fell down, she saw Melin coming back. “Sorry, Haley, I just needed to check something.”
“Alright, do you mind filling me in?”
Melin nodded, “But not right now. I have arranged a meeting with Hecate and Apollo for you. Now, what skill are you going to try to learn?”
Haley smiled, “Meeting with more gods? I am up for that. As for what skill I would like to learn, something my dad will never learn, no matter how many times it will be thrown in his face, is letting go. Yes, I am sad that Shirley is gone, yes, I miss Bob and the others. Within feasible and nondestructive ways, I’ll get them back. The key word here is nondestructive. But once dead, I need to move on. Shirley is gone, she is not going to come back.
Melin nodded, “Go on.”
“I need to move on, why would I go to insane lengths to get her back if it might harm other people? Shirley might not even be the same woman once I get her back. I am supposed to move on.”
Melin hugged Haley, “You are a great woman, and if you ask me, then you will be an outstanding woman in the future. Who knows where your path is going to take you? And one word of advice, Haley, revenge, or avenging people is never bad, when the other people truly deserve it.”