Sailing Across

This has always been my greatest fear: Helena is upset.

"Now, look what you've done!" Nisha blames me.

Well, it doesn't help now. I better calm this daughter of mine before she tramples us along with the house. She's up in the air now—something that is new. I guess this is what she wanted to show me and that explains how she went over the fence. Her barrier is expanding rapidly and I sense that this is the strongest it has ever been. Everything is trembling. The ground, the roof, the giant mushrooms.

"Helena," I say with a nervous giggle. "Calm down."

"Ironic," Nisha mutters.

"Papa's sorry. Papa's not mad now. You can take down your barrier and come down. I'll give you a very nice hug."

"I hate you!" she roars.

"WOAH!!!" Nisha and I exclaim as a giant crystal hand is coming down to crush us.

We manage to escape but our backyard is completely destroyed. Oh, man! I worked hard to flatten that!

"Do something!" Nisha pushes me.

"I know! But how can I get near her? She's high up and look at that barrier—it's the largest it has ever been!"

Helena's eyes glow bright red. That's how I know where she is in the clouds as they came swirling down from the black sky to surround her. This is very serious! Even my neighbors from far away are panicking.

"What do we do, Nisha?" I ask her because she always knew what to do about Helena.

"Bring me as close as you can."

I transform into my Angelus Frame. My wings are upgraded now and can keep me flying for a few hours. I grab her hands and lift her until we reach the huge barrier. For her to easily communicate, I hold her by the waist.

She hits the barrier like how she would knock on a door. "Helena! It's me! I want to tell you something!" I think she has to talk a little bit louder. The wind is too loud. "Papa wants to tell you he's sorry! So please take off this barrier so he can say it to you!"

"Helena! I'm sorry! I'm not mad now!"

But our words couldn't get through the barrier. It expands even more and we're getting pushed back. Our house below gets crushed. Thankfully, our valuable things are now in our inventories. But that doesn't mean all is well.

"We have no choice but to force our way in," I say. "Break it, Nisha."

With her summoned sword imbued with Angelus Light, she slices the barrier. The impact slightly blows us away but the barrier stays intact.

"It's not made out of Daemon Essence!" she reports. "What do we do?"

Hmm. . .

I read the file about Helena's powers. Here it says that the power of the Crystal Lily is both Anthropa and Daemon. Use both Angelus and Daemon Essences to counter it.

"Try using both of your Angelus and Daemon swords."

"That's strange but okay."

She summons the other sword, holding it with her other hand. Then at the same time, she hits the barrier. At the two points where her swords hit, violet and yellow light break out respectively. The barrier shatters like glass. I let go of Nisha and fly my way to my daughter. I hug her so tight as she is crying, lost deep in her uncontrollable power fueled by anger.

"I'm sorry, Helena," I whisper near her ear. "Papa won't yell at you again."

Her cry turns into a sob and that's when we fall. I use my wings to land softly as she falls asleep in my arms but still sobbing. Nisha sighs, dismissing her swords. She joins our hug.

"Our home is no more," she whispers with a chuckle.

"I know," I sigh. "It's quite sad."

Then our neighbors rush to check on us. Some of them are concerned and some of them are mad. As usual, I let Nisha handle them. I'm not good at dealing with a lot of people at the same time.

When all is done, we departed. This island village has a dock and skilled sailors ferry people across the islands. The ship has large sails as well as paddle wheels. It looks impressive as the lights on the dock illuminate its massiveness.

The pay was expensive but it was worth it. I checked the map I bought and found out that this "Island of Knowledge" is so far away. Like fifty times as far as the distance between the Rave Kingdom and Carmilla's island. Definitely, rowing is a no-go.

*Sigh* The wind is refreshing, along with the flowery smell of Helena's hair as I carry her sleeping, resting her chin on my shoulder. Three erupting volcanoes can be seen from afar. They're like the only stars as they are the only ones that radiate light in pitch-black darkness. Nisha is beside us, watching the same scenery.

"It's beautiful," she says.

"Yeah, it is."

"You've been to the surface, right?"

"Yup but also a bit higher than that." I'm talking about when I spawned on the clouds.

"What's it like there?"

"Oh, you've never been there before?"

"No, only the powerful can survive out there. Not to mention the sun. I've heard about it from my mother but never really saw it. She said it burns us."

Oh, yeah. . . sun and silver hurt vampires. It all makes sense even from the world I came from.

"Somehow, we'll get to the point that we have to go up there," I say.

"Really?"

"Maybe."

"I'm gonna be able to see the stars," she smiles, looking at the water down below.

Those words struck me, sending ripples throughout my very existence. We're alike. I've never seen the stars with my own naked eyes. No wonder why that resonated within me.

"We'll see them together," I say. She smiles at me.

"You're making too many promises to me, you know."

"Is that bad?"

"Maybe. It depends if you can fulfill all of them."

"What if I fulfill them all?"

"I'm going to give everything I have for you."

"What does that mean?"

With a pouty expression, she says, "I'm gonna want to marry you, of course."

"So, that's what you meant." I nod. "Okay."

"How about you?" she asks, timidly. "Do you. . . like. . . me. . . even a little?"

"Can't say, but I do care for you—like a lot."

"Really?" She moves closer to me, eager to hear what I say next.

"Yeah. Algron left you for me to protect, after all. I can't abandon his last wish."

"I already know that. What I want to know is what am I to you above all anything else?"

I don't what she's talking about but I'll say, "A very valuable companion."

Her head jerks down as if something heavy fell on her. "Ugh. . .," she groans in frustration.

"Are you okay?"

"Is that all you think about me?"

"In fact, no." Her eyes glimmer open wide. "Even if you're not Helena's real mother, I still see you as one. That's why I will keep you safe."

She rolls her eyes and turns around. What did I do now? Why is she angry? Anyway, I feel tired.

"I'm going below deck," I say, yawning. "You?"

"I want to stay here for a while." She's not looking at me.

"Okay, take care."

We have a room below deck and it's not that big. The bed is also in tatters. Who knows what kind of Daemons laid down here and how dirty they were? So I put Helena on my stomach to keep her off of this dirty bed. It could ruin her flowery scent that I love. It always helped me sleep easily.

Then I'm woken up as she crawls off of me. She yawns rubbing her eyes, then looks around. Confused, she asks, "Where are we, Papa?"

"We're on a ship."

"Ship?"

"Yup. Haven't we told you we're going on an adventure?"

Her mouth is open wide as she gasps. "Wow!"

"Do you want to see the ocean?"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

"Don't run around, okay? And don't let go of my hand or you'll get lost."

We hold hands as we make our way above deck. It's very tricky to keep her from running into other people we pass by in the passageway. More importantly, I have to be very gentle towards her or this ship could capsize.

Wonder and awe are written all over her face as she finally gets to see the vast ocean. It's everywhere she looks.

"Wow!" she exclaims, almost falling overboard but I am holding her by the arm.

"Careful, Helena."

"Water everywhere!"

"Yup, water everywhere," Nisha chuckles as she approaches us.

"Nisha!" she exclaims. "You're here too?"

"Of course, I am." She picks her up and together, they watch the sea—shimmering from the fiery volcanoes. "We'll always be together." She's looking at me as she said it then back to the sea. "There are huge monsters deep below the waters, you know. You don't wanna fall in it."

"Monsters?" Helena mutters in fear.

"But don't worry. They won't attack us unless we attack them. And if something happens, your Papa and I will cook 'em."

We have done that before, back when Algron was still alive. I can't believe that it has been six years. . . Time flies fast in this world, huh? But I learned and created as many memories as I would in the real world.

Nisha and I are busy watching out for Helena as well as entertaining her. Hundreds of hours passed and we have almost explored the whole ship just to take her for strolls. She's a child that gets bored pretty easily. We also warned her from using her powers because she might destroy something or hurt someone. It just adds to her frustration which is worrying. Nisha was right for bringing some of Helena's toys. That helped occupy her time.

Her toys, you ask? They're dolls, pretend makeup, and such. As always, I was her test subject. She would laugh as she messes up my face.

Then something glows as bright as a star in the horizon distance. I am certain that it isn't a volcano because of the color of the light. It is pale yellow, mixed with red and blue lights.

"What is that?" Nisha asks.

"That must be it—the Island of Knowledge."