Packing Up

That's all? There's not much description. This is quite odd. And this is the first major quest I got in such a long time.

"I'm done, Papa!" Helena says while her mouth is still full.

"Don't talk while your mouth is full."

She swallows and drinks water. "Let's go!"

Eventually, we "practice" outside. The first thing she has to master is to control her power. Zaori suggests that Helena should start by lifting small things. So, I let her focus on lifting a rock while I sit on the porch beside Nisha.

"I triggered a quest," I say.

"Uh-huh? Are you going to ignore it as you did to others?"

"I don't know. It's a major quest and might have some good rewards."

"Then let's go and complete it. We are planning to leave, after all."

"Okay."

She stands up. "I'll pack things up for the journey. Watch Helena for me."

Helena looks adorable as she tries her best. I never saw her this motivated to do one thing. Talking to her mother is enough to motivate her this much, huh? Nisha described Zaori as a goddess to her, after all.

It has been an hour and she still can't create a small barrier away from her body. I guess it takes a lot of control.

"Argh!" she squeals in agitation.

"Calm down, Helena," I tell her. "You can do it."

Frowning, she tries again and again but gets angrier and angrier as the seconds go by.

"Alright, that's enough. Let's take a break."

She comes back to me, crying. "I can't do it, Papa!"

"You can do it if you keep trying."

"But—" She's sobbing, wiping her tears of frustration. "it's impossible."

"It's not. Everything takes time, Helena, like how I learned how to make the Speculum so you can talk to Mama. I started all over again a couple of times, remember?" All because of her but I won't say that as it won't help. "But I didn't give up and you were able to talk to her." She's calming down now and sits beside me. "Take a break and try again later, okay?"

"Okay."

"That's my girl." I pat her head.

Our backyard is a little wide because I cleared it years ago. Back then, it is all covered with thick mushrooms and moss. It was hell removing them down to their roots so we can have a nice backyard to do various things like sparring and building furniture.

Beyond the wooden fence is a thick forest of glowing mushrooms. Just in case, I built the fence high enough so that Helena won't climb over. It's a strange forest, the locals say. Venture deep enough, and you'll get lost forever. Hundreds of people have gone missing there. Their bodies were never found. I wonder what took them but I don't want to find out by going there myself.

"Papa, look!" Helena startles me.

She's doing it! The rock is sitting on a plate-like pink barrier in midair.

"Good job, Helena! Come here and give me a hug." She laughs as she runs towards me. We hug and I say, "See? I knew you could do it."

"Cancer," Nisha calls from inside.

"Yeah?" I answer.

"My inventory is full. Can you come here?"

"Be right there." Then I turn to Helena. "You can practice a bit more while we pack our things."

"Where are we going?" Helena asks.

"Somewhere with a lot of books that can help you get stronger."

"Yay!"

"So, go ahead and have fun in the yard."

So enthusiastic, she runs back and practices a bit more. Inside, I help Nisha with the things we need for the trip.

"What about we lessen our clothes?" I suggest. "We can just clean them on the way. Food is what we needed the most."

She looks unwilling to do that. "But my clothes. . . I love them."

"Alright, but just pick those that you like the most. I'll carry the necessities."

"Thank you!"

Why is she so happy about it? I don't see the need for having good clothes. If it covers the things that needed to be covered, the clothing does its job well.

We wrap things up and fill our inventory with everything we need. I guess it's time to go. She looks around the house—our house that served us for five years.

"I'm gonna miss this place," she says.

"Yeah, me too."

We smile at each other. Then she goes ahead embracing me. "Can I tell you something?" she whispers.

"Go ahead."

"I know it's weird but I uh. . . felt like. . . we're a real family." I chuckle for a little bit. "Is it weird?"

"No, I felt the same. You played well the role of a wife." She gasps, eyes open wide, and her face all red. It's when she lets go that I start to realize what I just said! "Oh uh. . . I mean a MOTHER for Helena."

That was awkward.

"It was nothing big," she says. "any woman could do the same job. Maybe even better than me."

"Well, I think no other woman could raise Helena as you did."

Then she gazes at me, slowly drawing her face closer to mine. I turn to the side, remembering that I left Helena by herself.

"I'm going to check on Helena," I say as I go.

My worry can be heard in my footsteps. Then that worry is with a purpose as I discover that Helena is not in the backyard anymore except for the stone she was trying to lift.

"Helena!" I yell out, looking everywhere. "No, no, no!"

"What's going on?" Nisha asks.

I got no time to tell her and I'm hoping Helena is not far behind the wooden fence. She's not here!

"Helena!" I yell as I jump over the fence.

"Helena!" Nisha calls out too.

We got no answer, not even a whisper of the wind, nor a screech of a critter. People entered this forest and never came back. But how did she climb over this fence in the first place? Her powers! She might've tried lifting herself. That could explain it.

"It's my fault! I shouldn't have left her alone!" I grab Nisha by the shoulders and show her how much this is worrying me. "We need to find her!"

"Wait, calm down," she says.

How could I calm down? And how could she stay calm in a situation like this? Helena is gone missing, for goodness sake!

"We have no time! Let's go in there and—"

"Calm down!" She removes my trembling hands from her shoulders and holds them in hers. "It's too soon to say that she's in the forest. Let's go back to the village and find her there. Maybe she snuck out without us knowing."

"But that's impossible. We should've noticed. Something definitely took her!"

"Listen to me." She grabs my arm, stopping me. "It'll be okay. Just trust me."

"I'm over here!" A shout startles us. I look to where it came from and find Helena hiding in the bush with a wide grin.

How could she pull this prank on me? I'm gonna make sure she won't do that again. It's not funny!

"Papa, I flew over the fence when—"

"Bad girl!" I growl, grabbing her and pulling her back to the fence.

"Cancer," Nisha says as she trails behind us.

Now that we're back in the backyard, it's time for some lecturing.

"That was not funny, Helena," I scold her.

She looks down at the ground saying, "But I only wanted to surprise—"

"You wanted to surprise me? Then you made the worst surprise of all time!"

Then she whimpers. Serves her right!

"Cancer!" Nisha raises her voice at me as if I've done something wrong. "You don't have to shout at her like that. Calm down."

"Who in the world would be calm with this? Something bad would've happened to her and I will take all the blame!"

"I won't talk with you if you keep shouting!"

"You're shouting as well!"

"You started it, you buffoon! This is why Helena won't listen to you. You're like a wailing harpy."

She rolls her eyes but then gasps, looking at something behind me. Pink light shines on her face and other things around us as well. Behind me, Helena is upset.