We reached Cellestra and my mother who seemed to be in awe at what I’d just shown her.

“I can’t believe it,” She let out, Cellestra giggling at her dumbfoundedness.

“Yes,” I said. “This blessing has made me quite strong. What have you two been talking about?” I asked with a smile.

“Cellestra here just told me about your travels and how you almost single-handily wiped out a bunch of bandits attacking a caravan and then later on a group of raiders that burned down a barn. There was also an incident with a troll that she described as you showing off.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, as I said, we had some issues along the way. Did she also tell you she put me in a glass cage?”

My mother nodded. “Yeah, but she also said she got you out of there pretty fast.”

“She did. We’ve been through… quite a lot of things actually in the short while we’ve known each other. She…” I turned my head to the ground in front of me. “She’s been very kind to me. She gave up everything that she had to help me find you. Given, I did plan to help her find a solution to her own problem, but still...”

“Yeah. She told me something about a dungeon core exploding? You both seemed to have had it rough. It’s good to see you two helping each other out.”

“Thanks, mom.” I shook my head and chuckled at how naturally I said that. “Gods, how I’ve wanted to say that for such a long time now.”

Cellestra giggled.

“I’m happy you can finally say it,” My mother said. She looked at the trails I’d left behind after plowing through the dirt. “And damn, you’re doing work. I should be the one thanking you.”

“Happy to help,” I said proudly. Then something came to mind. “By the way, we were in quite the rush to get here, but we did acquire some money on the way. The thing is, neither of us knows the value. Could you tell us some about it, and if you don’t mind, how much you earn in a day?”

My father reached for his non-existent beard and cupped his chin. “I guess today is a bit of an exception. We were set to receive a gold coin for tilling the entirety of this field which was going to take about a week, but it seems you can get it done in a day.”

“One gold coin?” I asked, frowning.

“Enough to eat for two weeks with a small family, more if you get a discount like we do as we buy the landowner’s goods. As I said, we have more than enough to live, and we save up some as well.”

I shook my head. “To think we got twenty gold coins for selling two items and then effortlessly spent ten on that weaponsmithing token.” I sighed.

“And dungeon exploration, how lucrative is that?”

My father shook his head. “No idea. Never done anything like that. Couldn’t do it even if I wanted.”

“Depends on the dungeon,” Cellestra added. “We should get an idea about all that tomorrow when we check the city. We should probably aim to sell that scroll as well.”

“You don’t want to learn that spell?” I asked.

The brunette shook her head. “I have a way of learning spells through you. Besides, I don’t need a holy spell that badly when you already have that… If only we had time to get to the offensive spells…”

“We’ll get there, but yeah, you’re right. Its value as a scroll is probably much higher than you learning it,” I replied. “Anyway, let’s finish this field.”

Cellestra and Lilinia stepped aside as I plowed forward, then followed me at my sides. I saw my father look away from me for a second as he seemed to be thinking about something. He then turned to my mother at his side. “Should we tell her?”

His words piqued my curiosity. There seemed to be something he’d been rather hesitant to say. Perhaps this was about that?

My mother nodded slowly. “She deserves to know.”

“Huh?” I let out without thinking.

“Kealyna...” My father started. “I just told you about a small family...”

“Yes…?”

“We...” My mother took over. “We… We didn’t quite know why we didn’t have a child, so we went to the orphanage in town to adopt one. We’d been shown such hospitality here, we wanted to help out someone in need of parents. When we got there and laid eyes on her, we just… fell in love.”

Cellestra’s face changed into seriousness, something which was rare for her, but I understood it given the situation. I was taken aback by this information as well, but when I thought about it a bit deeper, I simply couldn’t blame them. How could I? Their memories about me had been sealed away.

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A hint of sadness washed over me, but at the same time, I was happy. Happy that someone like me wouldn’t have to go through my misfortunes in life. The hearts of my parents were as beautiful as I remembered.

A tear fell down onto one of my large red ones, grabbing my mother’s attention.

“Are you okay, Kealyna?” She whispered, worried.

I nodded. “I’m okay,” I said softly. “I just...” I paused for a second. “Thank you.”

At least, this girl would have two loving parents as she grew up, and at least my parents would have a daughter to watch grow up as well… even if it wasn’t me.

Another tear fell on my other large eye as it was made clear to me once again that I couldn’t get those years back. I steeled my heart and ignored the deep pain that all this caused as I told myself it was irrational. I felt happy about all this, I really did.

My mother placed a hand on my spider head’s side and patted it. “I don’t know what to say. I would understand if you were mad.”

“I’m not,” I said. “I’m grateful, really. Thank you for rescuing someone. This just…” I sighed. “It hits a bit close to home.”

I forcefully wiped away the tears and simply stared in front of me as I continued to plow through the dirt.

She nodded. “I understand. I didn’t know about you all this time, but now that it turns out we had a daughter of our own all this time… things make so much more sense. I couldn’t be happier. Kealyna, you’re a gift from the heavens.”

“More literally than you think,” I said softly.

My mother continued to pat my lower head, calming me down. After a few more seconds, I could smile a little again.

“You learned that from Cellestra, too?” I said, looking at her hand.

“I didn’t,” She said as she shook her head. “But your other head is a bit far away, so this was the next best thing I could think of.”

She turned her head to look at my eyes and fangs more clearly. “Honestly though,” She let out. “A spider… and you’re okay with it?”

“Now I am, yeah. Turns out, spiders are amazing in their own way. Though, I hardly count as your average arachnid. I’ll have you know that having two minds was incredibly confusing at times. Now, they seem to more or less work in tune, unless I don’t want them to.”

We turned around once more as we reached the edge of the field again. I noticed that the farmer that was plowing the field next to us was either done for the day or he’d given up like my father.

“Surprised you haven’t mentioned my eyes,” I said, smiling again.

“Which ones?” My father jokingly said.

“Yeah, I suppose I should have elaborated on that,” I answered with a chuckle. “No, I mean my normal eyes.”

“I was afraid to mention that,” My mother said. “Out of fear of your reaction but you seem to be much more comfortable with things than I would ever be if I were you.” She paused. “I think they’re gorgeous.

My father nodded in agreement and I came to a halt before speaking. "You should see my rear, then.”

My mother looked at me in confusion while I used my rear legs to move the wolf pelts down my abdomen to reveal the snowflake pattern that was covered by them. Their reactions were along the lines as I’d expected as I saw their eyes dart over the many colors swirling in my abdomen in utter amazement.

It took them a good minute before they found their speech again.

Cellestra giggled at my side and I couldn’t help but join her soft snickers.

“I don’t know what to say…” My mother let out.

“Don’t think it’s pretty?” I said. “Personally, I like it.”

She nodded slowly as I smiled and started moving again, intending to finish plowing this field today.

“They sure are sweet, aren’t they?” Cellestra asked, walking at my side, referring to my parents who were left behind, seemingly hypnotized.

“They are. Seeing all this now… I had no idea what I was so worried about all this time.”

“See?” Cellestra asked with a sweet, warm smile. “I told you it would all work out.”

“I can’t believe you’re right about this every time.”

Cellestra shook her head and chuckled, not saying a word as we continued our business.