Mother

WINIFRED

It was awfully quiet at night. It wasn't because I was alone. Lady Freya was kind enough to keep me company, sleeping on the couch on the room even though I refused her offer. Darryl joined her stubbornly and he sat at the foot of my bed.

However, none of them noticed the ephemeral being that entered my room through the window. If I didn't see his soul, I wouldn't have known it was him. It had to be said that he was truly a beautiful creature. But he was also incredibly vain.

"Nathan."

"I'm so glad you haven't forgotten how I look like, my lady."

He wore something a little different. It was a brown toga tied with a belt that looked like it was woven from straw. On his forearms were a pair of brown bands, tightly strapped to his biceps. His red hair was long, flowing past his feet despite his height. He was well over six feet, that was for sure. There was a golden flower crown that held his hair back.

His voice was different as well. It was deep and a little raspy. His eyes were soft but they felt unordinary.

"Why do you look like that?"

"My body had changed before I realized. Oriel would tear her hair out in frustration if she found out I ascended as a god so easily," he chuckled.

"You're a god?"

"Yes. This aura is unmistakable. If I didn't know what the aura of a god felt like, I wouldn't have believed it."

I knew he was something inhuman but a god? I could only imagine him as a devil.

"That's a cruel thing to say, my lady."

"Stop reading my mind, pervert."

"I cannot help it. This is the full extent of my powers. Well, I can't say that anymore. I don't even know what I'm capable of."

His face was really distracting. This kind of smooth, beautiful bronze skin would make so many men back in my world so jealous. It was unachievable perfection for many people. It is wasted on a narcissist like him.

"Can't you just praise me normally? But my lady, you're more beautiful than any goddess in existence. My beauty pales in comparison to yours."

"Like I can even see it," I snorted.

"And that's why I'm here. I promised you my eyes in exchange for yours."

"You don't need to. I hate hand outs."

"I insist. I won't be physically ripping out your eyeballs. Well, I would but it wouldn't be as gruesome as you think it is. I am a man of precision."

"No, you're the devil."

"Perhaps, I am. But I'm offering my eyes. They say the eyes are the window to the soul. They aren't lying."

"Let me...think about it."

"Very well. I shall don the skin of the man surnamed Sebastian once more."

"That just sounds gross, man."

He chuckled and left the same way he came in. It was quiet again. The stench I perceived the day before was receding a bit. I don't know what happened when Nathan entered the tent then. It was like I blacked out. But there was someone calling my name.

The voice was so eerily familiar, it gave me chills. The voice was one I had forgotten since it had been more than 19 years since I last heard that voice. It belonged to none other than my mother.

But it didn't make sense. Why would I be hearing my dead mother's voice in another world? Could she have crossed over after she died just like I did?

I didn't cross over. There was just a soul swap. Winifred and I are one and the same. If it was possible that my mother had a person with a similar soul that she swapped with, it could be possible that she was still alive.

Winifred herself was abandoned as an orphan. There was no record of her parents anywhere in the world. Assuming she didn't have a bastard for a father like I did, she ought to have parents, even if she was dead.

There was a possibility that my mother was still alive somewhere in this world. There was nothing more I wanted than to find her.

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I barely closed my eyes for a few hours before I was awoken by Lady Freya. She didn't mind me sleeping me but I had to use the herbal decotion that was made for me by the extremely busy palace physicians. She made sure to emphasize that. They shouldn't have bothered because I was feeling fine.

"Have you eaten this morning, Darryl?"

"Yes. Isn't that bitter, Winifred?"

"I can't taste anything or smell anything after spending my time at the quarantine zone yesterday so it's fine," I replied honestly.

"That's horrible!" Lady Freya exclaimed. I knew she was going to demand to go with me and my plan was to refuse her. That awful stench mustn't be allowed to cling to them.

There was a knock on the door as I was fed the medicine. I heard the door open and saw him walk in. He was back to looking like a mortal. Even if he was handsome as Lord Sebastian, the beauty of his true body overshadowed this body. The smirk on his face told me he heard all I said in my mind.

"Welcome, Lord Sebastian. Thank you for bringing the young lady back safely yesterday," Lady Freya said to him.

"There's no need to bow to me. It's my job. Besides, if she has that expression on her face, then it means she's feeling better," he mocked, smiling at me. I fought the urge to flip him the bird and just turned away from his smug face.

"Did you perhaps bring flowers, my lord?" Darryl suddenly asked. My nose felt stuffed so I couldn't smell anything like that.

"Nothing like that. I'm empty handed."

"That's strange. I smell it too. The flora here isn't that diverse as well. Is this a new fragrance, Lord Sebastian?"

"Perhaps," he answered vaguely. They decided to change the topic and fixate on how to make me more comfortable.

"Could you both leave? I need to talk to Lord Sebastian alone?"

My request came as a surprise to them. I rarely dismissed them. But within a few minutes, without question, they were gone. I turned to the smug man, whose essence overflowed from the mortal body he inhabited.

"Have you made up your mind, my dear lady?"

"That is not what I wanted to ask you about?"

"What is it then?"

"You said whatever was in that mist referred to me as the Daughter of Darkness. Did it say anything else?"

"Well, it kept calling you its daughter and said you were hiding something from me because you hadn't deemed me powerful enough. I doubt she's talking about you. It must be the other soul inside you."

"I'm not so sure about that."

He frowned and walked closer, seating beside me on the bed. He took my hand into his.

"The power from that strange being isn't the kind a mortal body can so easily handle. Do you know something about that being?"

"I don't know. All I know is that I heard my mother's voice. It's a different world and it doesn't make sense but I recognize her voice."

"Are you trying to suggest that whatever happened to you also happened to your mother?"

"Perhaps. It's just a theory and I'm not sure but if I'm right, I need to find my mother. If she's still out there somewhere, I..." my words hung in my throat and refused to come out.

"I hate to say this but what if it's just an evil spirit pretending to be your mother? You can't just trust a voice that did something like that."

"Nathan, my mother suffered a fate more cruel than I did. Finding her would put me at ease. I need to see her...if it's just for one last time. Please...help me find my mother."

He reached out his hand to clean the tears that dropped down my cheek, sighing.

"Fine. I'll help you, my lady."