A Promise

Another month passed, before mother finally returned back home. She hugged me tightly and asked, "Have you missed mommy?". I nodded, and hugged her back. "It took us a bit longer than expected, but I hope Suly and Leran kept you company", she added. "We had some fun, and I learned a bit more about Runes", I replied. Suly and Leran stayed over for one more night, before returning back home. Once they left, I asked mom about the performances in the Land of Sands. "Oh, Suly told you about them?", she asked. "Yea, why don't we go? I'd like to see that myself. Leran seemed to like them a lot…", I said. Mom gave it some thoughts before replying, "Alright, but under one condition". "Yay! So when do we go?", I asked excitedly.

"Anna, I said under one condition", mom repeated herself. "Oh… Alright, what condition?", I asked. "You have to learn all the basic Runes. When you do that, we will go", she replied. "Heee… But I have like another sixty to learn, it will take me a year to do that", I complained. "It will make the reward that much sweeter. If you work hard, you can do it love", she added. 'Mom is so stingy… But, at least she agreed!', I thought. It would take a lot of time, but one day it would happen, then mother couldn't refuse anymore. "You promise? No excuses later, right?", I asked just to make sure. She nodded, "I promise. We will go to the Land of Sands and watch some performances, so work hard". With this new goal in mind, I studied and drew Runes like crazy.

Mom was really stingy, and tried to throw more hurdles my way. She gave me a new pair of gloves, double in weight of my previous ones. "The old ones are too easy for you already. If it was easy all the time, your training wouldn't progress", was her reason, but I felt differently. She gave me those gloves after the talk about watching the performances. I didn't give up though, and worked hard to learn all the basic Runes.

The days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Mom was really trying her best to make me fail. She increased the amount of exercises I had to carry out every day. As soon as she noticed I got used to the gloves, she introduced heavy boots. "Mom! You are doing this on purpose!", I shouted at the time. "My, my. Anna child, this is your training, I am not asking you to do impossible, right? If I made it too easy, how would you improve?", she said with a grin on her face. 'Mom is evil!', I thought. No matter what she threw my way, I would prevail and win. There was no way she could change her mind after.

About five months later, I was left with fifteen Runes to master. That was already a small amount, and I practiced all fifteen already. It wouldn't take me long to draw them perfectly, which meant we had to go on a trip. One day though, mom acted in a weird way. She seemed concerned about something, but no matter how much I asked, she wouldn't tell. During the afternoon, she told me to stop my training and go inside to study. That never happened before, and I wasn't sure why she did that. I kept thinking about it, and couldn't focus on my books or Runes. That was when I heard someone talking outside. 'We have visitors?', I asked myself and tried looking out the window. I couldn't see anyone, but I was sure someone was there talking with mom.

'... I'll just take a peak', I thought and left my room quietly. Once outside the house, I heard mom arguing about something with a male voice. 'It can't be, is it…', I thought and made my way round the house. "Mom?", I asked, but then I noticed a few people standing opposite of her. They were the same as me, they were Humans! The one mom argued with was very old, I refused to believe that was my father. After all, my mom was much younger than him.

"Sonia… This… Is this your daughter?", the old man asked, shocked. Mom sighed, "Yes, that is my daughter, father". 'Father? Does that mean this old man is my family… my grandpa?', I asked myself. The old man smiled and approached me, "You look just like your mom… I'm… I'm your grandpa Philip. What's your name, young lady?", he asked. I stayed quiet for a while, perhaps too shocked to say anything. "I'm… My name is Anna", I replied quietly. He nodded, "That is a great name. You already grew up so much, it's a shame I didn't visit earlier". He turned toward mom, "Why didn't you visit me throughout these years. You know I've been worried sick about you. Did he make you…", mother stopped him. "No, it was my choice… I've been busy, father… I". The old man shook his head, "It's fine. I finally got to see my own daughter and moreover, she has her own family now… I'm glad you are doing well".

He walked over to mom and hugged her. "You know that no matter what, you are my daughter. This will never change, please don't try to distance yourself from me", he said. I never saw mom cry before, but that time she did. Mom cried onto grandpa shoulder, as if letting all that frustration go. I stared at them, at my family. It turned out we were not alone. There was someone else who cared about us. Mom beckoned for me to come over, and picked me up. "Tell grandpa what you are studying, I'm sure he will be surprised", mom said with a smile. I was a bit shy but replied, "You mean Runes and Formations?". Grandpa's eyes became large, "You study Formations? Sonia is this real?". Mom nodded proudly, "She is much more talented and diligent than I ever was. I'm sure you'll have loads to tell her". "What a surprise indeed. You probably don't know, but grandpa is a Formation Master, hehe", he said with a smile.

"Grandpa is a Formation Master… Like aunt Alicia?", I asked. Mom laughed in reply, "Haha, you are no longer considered a master, at least not here in the North. With new Formations and whatnot, you might be considered above average". "What!? How could you say that Sonia… Your father is…", grandpa stammered defeated. "Hey Sonia, long time no see", one of the men in the group said. "You guys grew up so much since we last saw each other. Have you been well?", mom asked them and let grandpa hold me. "You are so cute Anna, to think grandpa would be blessed with such a granddaughter", grandpa said. All of this was new to me, I met fellow Humans for the first time and one of them was my grandpa. "Will grandpa stay for a while?", I asked quietly and a bit shyly.

"Of course! Grandpa wants to spend some time with his lovely Anna. Besides, since you study Formations, I'm sure I can help you out", he replied. When I looked at mom, she seemed so happy and enjoyed herself a lot. These people must've been her friends from the past, I could tell she missed them. "Say grandpa, do you know my father?", I asked. When I asked that question, silence filled the air. "I don't like him. He made my daughter and granddaughter sad. He was always reckless! That idiot…", grandpa replied promptly. "Father!", mom shouted but grandpa continued, "But, he always kept his promise… I guess I can't fault him for that".

"Yea, he was always reckless, but you could depend on him. When his mind was set, he pursued it no matter what", one of my mom's friends said. "I only remember him to be cruel! He didn't treat ladies with respect at all", one woman said. "Heh? Are you referring to the Arena back then? He gave you some medicine though", another guy replied. "That doesn't count!", she retorted back. As they argued, I found myself smiling a bit. 'These people… They think well of my father...', I thought.

"Alright guys, that's enough. Why don't we take a break, and get something to eat", mom stopped them, and walked over to pick me up. "You are welcome to stay as long as you want, although you will have to figure out some accommodation. Our house is a bit small for that many guests", she added. "Don't worry we can manage, and we will stay for a few days at most. We have some sightseeing to do, it's been a long time since we visited this place. We'll leave Master Philip in your care", one of the guys said. After the dinner, grandpa insisted I showed him what I learned already. I was a bit nervous, mostly because grandpa stared at me all the time. "So… I learned to draw these Runes… Um, I can show you if you like", I said. "More importantly… You said these are basic Runes?". I nodded, "Yes, that is what sister Suly said". Grandpa's face changed, "Anna… Please show grandpa how you draw Runes". I nodded and exclaimed, "Sure!".