I took a breath, not revealing the way my heart just jumped. Dread and unwilling twisted my stomach into painful knots. Funny, I wasn’t this scared when I faced the stone giant earlier. Then again, the giant could only break my body. Dad could easily break my heart, and I had no defense against it.

Levi, in my hand, immediately noticed my abnormality and stiffened. Confused, he looked around but couldn't find any threats. Just the people I swore to protect. He climbed up to settle behind my neck, his head resting on the bend of my neck and shoulder so that he could see everyone.

I forced a smile, leaning on everything I learned while doing customer service. I should defuse the situation before we said things we didn't mean. "Actually, there's some truth in that," I agreed with Dad.

His eyes widened, not expecting that.

I looked at Uncle. "I wanted to commission you to make me some armor. These," I motioned to my messy armor, "just aren't cutting it for what I need to do now." Okay, that wasn’t really going to defuse the situation at all.

Uncle's eyes narrowed, a serious gleam in his eyes as he understood what I meant. The only reason this E ranked gear wasn’t good enough was if I was doing tasks higher than E ranked. But there wasn’t any surprise on his face, as if he already knew I was stronger now. Why did he accept it so easily? I shouldn’t be able to get stronger, Hunter just didn’t do that. But Uncle wasn’t phased about that at all. If anything, below the calm surface, he seemed … vexed. But it wasn’t aimed at me. Who?

Dad's face went red. "You don't need armor anymore. You're done being a Hunter." His voice rose with every word he said as his temper spiked.

A part of me wanted to flinch away. The person I spent days missing just trampled right over my dreams. I knew why, but it hurt anyway. Since he stopped dancing around the issue, I did too. "No, Dad, I'm a Hunter. And I'll always be a Hunter. That's not going to change."

"Ria!" Dad barked. "Haven't you played enough?"

My chest seized up. Playing? Was that what he really thought I was doing? Every time I nearly died, I was just playing?

"I accepted you becoming a Hunter. I didn't object when you ran off into the wilds because I knew that Shiva would protect you. But this, this is too much." He waved his hand at me. "You disappeared for days. Days! I thought you were dead." His voice broke. "I thought my little girl was gone. All because I spoiled you and let you do something I knew you couldn't do."

I knew it was coming. Still, hearing those words crushed my heart. He never thought I'd be a successful Hunter. It was ten times worse than him thinking I was playing. Tears burned behind my eyes, but I didn't let them fall. No, I was going to show that I was strong enough. He was my daddy, and always will be, but I couldn't be his little girl anymore.

"No," Dad announced. "No more. You can't be a Hunter anymore."

I took a breath, a flicker of anger blooming in the heavy depths in my chest. Why did he have to make it like this? Why did I have to choose between him and being a Hunter? "I'm not going to quit. No matter what, I'm going to be a Hunter."

"Do you think I can stand knowing that every time I see you, it might be last?" He threw the words at me. "It wasn't too bad at first, because you were at least in the area. If there was a big problem, you could at least call your Uncle. But this? Don't you care how terrified I was? The Association—" his voice cracked and his eyes reddened with tears. "The Association even sent someone to inform us you were MIA. Dead." He motioned wildly towards a messy pile of papers on the kitchen counter. The pages were wrinkled as if crushed with force, the edges frayed, and the paper soft, as if it was read over and over again. "They gave us grieving papers and information about f-funerals."

Micah sank into the couch, folding his body, and rested his head on his knee to hide his face. But I could still see the way his fingers gripped his shorts so tightly, his knuckles turned white.

Uncle looked to the side, swallowing hard. But he didn’t interject, like a silent sentinel watching a battle from afar.

Heart-wrenching guilt washed over my head for what I put them through. I knew what was happening to them while I was gone, but it didn’t diminish the guilt I felt. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm really sorry. I didn't know all this was going to happen. It won't happen again. I'll be more careful from now on." I'll definitely be more cautious about the people I accompany tasks with for now on. Maybe with Levi and Shiva, I won't even need to pair up with other people now.

Dad's face pinched tight, his neck flushing red. "No, there won't be a next time, Ria. You are never going on a Hunter task again."

I shook my head, disagreeing. "No, Dad. I'm never going to quit."

"Why?" he yelled. "Why do you have to be a Hunter? Why can't it be enough to help with the shop? Take over the business side of things, just like we always planned? If you were an actual employee at this time, you'd be fired for how inconsistent you are. Why can't you just stay where it's safe? Why did everything change?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I flinched. God, I hated hearing that I dropped the ball with the shop. But it's true, I did. I’d missed my first real shift and only completed half the paperwork I was supposed to do. The shop completely took second when it came to my Hunter activities. Although there were obviously good excuses – I obviously didn’t mean to get left in the wilds. But if I was honest right now, I didn't regret it. And I hated myself for that. The shop and my family’s business were the end goal. I needed to keep them safe. Because of that, I couldn't wait to slowly level up. I needed to get to level fifty as soon as possible. Not just to know how Mom died, but to keep mine and Micah’s future safe. And that meant that I needed to neglect the shop a little, while I worked on leveling up.

But I couldn’t actually tell Dad that. I couldn't tell him anything about the System. I guess I could show him I had water magic, but I'd never be able to say how.

"That's still the plan," I said through the burning in my throat. "I still plan on taking over the shop with Micah. That will never change. But I have to become a great Hunter." No, maybe that was just a cover I used to hide the real reason. The deeper, more personal reason.

"Why?" Dad insisted, throwing his hands in the air. “I don’t understand. Why can’t you just tell me why?”

"Because I don't want to be afraid anymore!" I yelled, losing control of my emotions. "Because I'm afraid that I really am the screw up I feel like. I'm afraid that I'll never be enough. I'm afraid of letting you down because I'm not strong enough. I'm afraid ... that it's all my fault. Because everything bad that's happened to this family in the last eight years is my fault. I'm just trying to fix what I actually can."

Dad's mouth parted in shock and he sputtered, "...But ... the counselor said..." His voice died out.

I scoffed, knowing exactly what he meant. The only reason Dad agreed to move back to Mist Haven was because my psychologist cleared me to go. He announced that I was finally coping with my PTSD enough to handle coming back to where it originated from. It took me months to figure out how to act to get him to clear me. Of course, Dad never knew that.

I shook my head. "It’s easy to lie when you have someone to protect."

Dad gaped at me.

I looked away, knowing that I let him down again. Yet, I'd do it again. "If we waited any longer, Micah would miss the start of his apprenticeship. He should have started a year ago, but you put it off because of me. I know you meant well, but I couldn't be the reason Micah's future was put on hold." I ignored the shocked expression on Micah's face as he lifted his head. I waved my hands, needing to move but not knowing where to go. "And, Dad, you would never let go of your own self-blame until you thought that I was okay. You never did anything wrong to begin with. I did. It's only right that I fix it."

Dad was floored, obviously not expecting me to say any of this. His expression shifted between shock, self-blame and conflicted. Then anger. "You don't have to sacrifice yourself for us!"

"And you don’t have to hide me to keep me safe anymore!" I yelled back. "I can protect myself now!"

Dad was left speechless again.

My eyes burned with suppressed tears. Pressure built in my chest as my aura bubbled and rolled with my wayward emotions, trying to flow free. But I didn't let it out. Uncle would be fine, but it could hurt Micah and Dad.

Levi shifted against my neck, uncomfortable with my crazy emotions.

It took a minute to control myself before I looked into Dad’s eyes. "I love you, Dad," I said with conviction. "You, Mika and Uncle are my world. But I want to love me, too. I want to know that I can stand proudly by all the great men in my life. I want to be more than just Beau Moore's daughter, and Maverick Moore’s grand niece. I want to be Ria Moore, someone who is strong enough to support this family. And you know what? I felt that for the first time, out there in the wilds. Sure, I was scared most of the time, but I found out that I could actually do it. Be a good Hunter. And I want to feel that pride again. I know that you mean well, I know you’re doing your best for me. And so am I. We're using different methods, but we’re both trying. So let me try to be who I want to be."

Dad stared at me for a long minute, gasping for breath as if his world was falling apart around him. Finally he let out a long breath and slumped down onto the chair behind him. With a groan, he covered his face. "My god. How can I be so oblivious? I'm such a failure as a parent."

"No, Dad." My voice cracked. I didn't think my heart could break anymore, yet there were still a couple more shards that fell seeing his defeated body language. Subconsciously, I knew I won the fight, but it didn't give me any satisfaction. Not when my hero was like that. I threw my arms around his shoulder. "No, you are the best parent ever. All the hard work you went through is the reason I'm as happy as I am today. You did so much for me, even though you were dealing with your own trauma. And I appreciate everything you did. You are the best dad in the world."

Levi couldn't handle being so close to Dad and slipped off my shoulder. He slithered across the floor and curled up in the corner, away from everyone.

As soon as he was gone, Micah crawled off the couch and joined in the family hug. "You are the best," he said. "Both of you."

Dad reached out, dragging both of us into a tight hug. Then he let go with a long sigh. He looked up at me with tired eyes. "You really won't quit?"

I shook my head.

He swallowed hard, his face all kinds of unwilling. "I never want to go through this again," he finally said. "Not knowing where you were, and unable to get a hold of your party to find out details. I need to know about all of your tasks. Where you go, who you are with, and their contact information."

I nodded in agreement. As an adult, I technically didn't have to, but if it made Dad feel better, I'd do it. At least until he got comfortable enough with me leaving. Then again, the situation with Star and her gang was unique. They were passively trying to get me killed so Star could 'justifiably' get my armor. Of course they weren't going to tell Dad what happened.

Uncle Maveric sighed and walked up. He patted Dad's shoulder then ruffled mine and Micah's hair. "How about we put this drama on hold for now?" he asked. His calm voice defused any lingering tension in the air like a warm summer breeze. "It's getting late. Ria, why don't you visit me in the morning and we can talk shop then?" He glanced at Levi in the corner. "Make sure to bring your snake."

Levi stuck his tongue out at Uncle.

*****