Chapter 25 – Family Bonding

Chapter 25 – Family Bonding

 

Liria sat amidst the endless flower fields of Elysium, carefully weaving a flower crown in her lap.

The valley spread out beneath the afternoon sun in a breathtaking wash of color. Endless blossoms rippled over the rolling hills like a painted sea, white and gold and lavender and pale pink swaying together beneath the wind. Their fragrance lingered thick and sweet in the air, touched by warm grass, sunlit earth, and the faint honeyed perfume of nectar. Somewhere nearby, bees hummed lazily among the petals, and butterflies drifted through the flowers like scraps of living silk.

Below the slope, Elysium rested in the heart of the valley, radiant and serene.

From this distance, the city looked almost dreamlike. White stone walls gleamed softly in the light, while rooftops of silver and gold rose in elegant tiers beyond them. Banners fluttered from high towers. Sunlight flashed over crystal windows and distant fountains. Even from here, the city seemed to shimmer with life.

Liria lowered her gaze to the flowers in her hands and exhaled slowly.

This was something she had always wanted to try at least once.

Just once, in all her life, she had wanted to sit in a field of flowers and make something useless and lovely with her own hands.

In that ruined future, she had loved flowers.

Loved every stubborn blossom that somehow survived in a dying world. Loved the shy, reverent way young soldiers would sometimes bring her half-wilted wildflowers they had found growing through cracks in broken stone. A bent stem. A tiny white bloom. A flower with bruised petals and too little color left in it. They had offered them to her like sacred treasures, and she had treasured them in return.

But flowers had been rare then.

Fields like this had belonged to stories. To songs sung around campfires by tired men pretending, for one stolen hour, that beauty still waited somewhere beyond the smoke and ash.

And yet, here she was.

The flower stems softened beneath her fingers as she wove them together, and her chest tightened unexpectedly.

Liria bowed her head and offered a silent apology to the companions she had left behind in that broken age.

She wished they were here to see this.

This peace had only become possible because of their sacrifice. Because they had fought, and bled, and endured, even when hope itself had nearly gone extinct.

You’ll see it someday, she promised them in her heart. When the future is truly safe… I’ll make sure you see it too.

She would protect this peace forever.

A burst of tinkling laughter drifted through the flowers and pulled her from her thoughts.

Liria looked up.

Several paces away, Seris was dancing through the sea of blossoms with all the unrestrained delight of a child who had just discovered paradise.

The little Saintess spun in circles with her arms outstretched, trying and failing to catch the butterflies fluttering just beyond her reach. Her golden hair had begun to come loose, bright as spun sunlight beneath the sky, and stray petals clung to the soft waves of it. Her cheeks were pink from exertion. Her wide blue eyes sparkled so vividly that Liria’s breath caught.

There was no fear in that expression. No quiet, haunted sorrow tucked behind the smile.

Only wonder.

Only joy.

Seris reached for another butterfly, missed by a handspan, then finally noticed Liria watching her.

Her face lit up at once.

“Big sister!”

She came running, filled with exuberance. As though she already knew, with all the certainty in the world, exactly where she belonged.

Liria opened her arms just in time for Seris to tumble into them. She caught her with a soft laugh and drew her close.

“This place is so beautiful and amazing, big sis!” Seris gushed, breathless with excitement. She twisted in Liria’s embrace just enough to gesture wildly at the entire valley. “There are so many flowers! And butterflies! And the city is all shiny, and the wind smells nice, and everything feels so soft!”

Liria smiled helplessly. “That is a very thorough review.”

Seris nodded solemnly. “It’s important to be accurate.”

Then her voice softened.

She looked out over the valley again, and this time the wonder in her expression turned quieter, more fragile.

“I never knew the world could be so beautiful,” she admitted. “Or so bright.”

Liria stilled.

Seris lowered her gaze to the flowers brushing against her knees.

“Every day since I met you has felt like a dream.”

The words were simple, but they struck Liria harder than any grand declaration could have.

Her hand rose almost on its own, smoothing back the strands of golden hair that had fallen into Seris’s face.

“I’ll show you even more beautiful sights in the future, Seris,” she said softly. “There are mountains where the snow glows pink at sunrise. Lakes so clear they look like pieces of the sky. Forests older than kingdoms. Cities filled with music and lights.”

Seris’s eyes widened a little more with each new image.

Liria smiled and tucked one last loose strand behind her ear.

“So let’s go see all of it together.”

And may the joy you find beside me outweigh every sorrow this world ever forced upon you.

The prayer remained unspoken, but it settled deep and heavy in her heart all the same.

Seris looked up at her with slightly dazed blue eyes and cheeks faintly flushed pink. Then, without a word, she burrowed deeper into Liria’s arms.

“Promise you’ll never leave me, big sis?” she asked in a very small voice.

Liria’s breath caught. She held her a little tighter.

“Of course, little one,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to the crown of her golden hair. “For as long as I live.”

Seris melted bonelessly against her. For a while, they simply stayed that way, wrapped in sunlight and flowers and peace.

Eventually, Liria shifted and lifted the flower crown she had been weaving in her lap.

“I have a gift for you, little sister.”

Seris blinked and sat up at once, all previous solemnity vanishing in an instant.

“A gift?”

Liria carefully placed the flower crown atop her golden hair, adjusting it so the pale blossoms rested neatly among the soft waves.

Seris went very still.

Her fingers rose to touch the petals with almost reverent care. Then she turned her head just enough for the sunlight to catch her hair properly and tilted her chin with surprising confidence.

“How do I look?” she asked, very cutely.

Liria laughed.

“Our Seris is the cutest in the entire world,” she said, and meant every word.

Seris set one hand on her hip and lifted her chin proudly.

“Hmph. Of course I am.”

Liria stared at the child for all of two seconds before she lost the battle completely.

Would you look at this little girl.

She reached out, scooped Seris into her arms, and immediately began tickling her mercilessly.

Seris squeaked in scandalized outrage before dissolving into peals of helpless laughter.

“Big sis! No! Ahaha, stop!”

“Oh?” Liria said with entirely false severity. “And what exactly are you so smug about?”

“Seris doesn’t know! Seris is innocent!”

Liria tickled her harder.

“Lies.”

“Seris surrenders!” the child gasped between laughter. “Seris is sorry! Forgive me, big sister! Seris was bad!”

Only after extracting a full and humiliating confession did Liria finally spare her.

By then, Seris had gone limp in her lap, pink-cheeked and giggling weakly, all traces of smugness thoroughly obliterated. She leaned against Liria like a contented kitten, still catching her breath.

After a moment, she noticed the flowers still resting in Liria’s lap and perked up again.

“Teach Seris how to make one too!” she asked eagerly. “I want us to match!”

Liria smiled and gathered a few long-stemmed blossoms from beside her.

“Of course.”

She guided Seris’s hands into place, folding one stem over another while the child watched with intense concentration.

“You weave them like this,” Liria explained. “Carefully. If you bend the stem too sharply, it’ll snap.”

Seris nodded very seriously.

“I understand. Seris must be very, very gentle.”

Liria had to bite back a smile.

“Yes, exactly.”

For a while, they worked in companionable silence. The flowers brushed against their skirts. The breeze moved softly through the valley, carrying the scent of nectar and distant greenery. Somewhere farther down the slope, faint bells from the city drifted upward on the wind.

Once Seris had grown a little steadier with her weaving, Liria asked lightly, “Have you gotten used to the Grand System yet, Seris?”

“Yes!” Seris nodded energetically. “It’s so convenient! I couldn’t use it properly before I met you because of that Cowardly Skeleton.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Her tiny brows furrowed in indignation.

“That Cowardly Skeleton is awful.”

Liria, who had every reason to agree, nodded solemnly.

“You are entirely correct.”

Seris looked deeply vindicated.

“Do you have any questions for me?” Liria asked.

“Yes!” Seris brightened at once. “I got a few Quests while you were sleeping, but Seris doesn’t really understand the Blessing of Light’s Quest System. Can you explain it to me, big sister?”

“Of course.”

Liria adjusted the flowers in Seris’s hands before continuing.

“The Quest System responds to good deeds,” she said. “When you sincerely want to help someone, the System can recognize that and generate a Quest for you to complete.”

Seris blinked.

“It can tell when you’re trying to be nice?”

“To a degree.”

Seris gasped softly and looked around as though the air itself might be eavesdropping.

“That’s a little scary.”

Liria’s lips twitched. “Only if you’re planning crimes.”

Seris immediately sat up straighter.

“Seris has never committed a crime in her life.”

“The flower massacre from earlier suggests otherwise.”

Seris looked down at the broken stems in her lap and coughed.

“Seris was attacked first.”

Liria laughed quietly and continued, “The rewards depend on several things. How difficult the task is. How many people you helped. How badly your help was needed. Sometimes, how meaningful the act was also matters.”

Seris nodded with complete seriousness.

“So if Seris helps one very miserable person, that could still count a lot?”

“Yes,” Liria said. “Especially if no one else could have helped them.”

Seris seemed pleased by that.

“But the System isn’t mindless,” Liria added. “If your actions make people unhappy, or if you complete a Quest in a harmful or selfish way, there can be penalties.”

Seris froze.

“Penalties?”

Liria nodded.

“Points can be deducted. If you’re careless enough, you can even lose XP instead of gaining it.”

Seris stared at her in open horror.

“That’s awful.”

“It’s fair.”

Seris considered that with great reluctance, then sighed.

“…It’s a little fair.”

Liria stroked a hand through her hair.

“The Blessing of Light was never meant to reward strength alone. It was meant to encourage people to extend a hand to those in need. To use whatever power they have to ease suffering, not create more of it.”

Seris went quiet for a moment. Then, all at once, she brightened.

“Oh,” she said.

Liria blinked. “Oh?”