"Y- You… sob sob This is not a dream?!! Vritra sob sob where were you sob all this time? I was so scared sob sob," Vanessa wanted to say a lot but all her words were drowned under her sobs.
She choked on her words as tears rained down her pale cheeks, staining his clothes; in a gentle and loving manner, Vritra continued to stroke her long and smooth green hair, finally finding peace after months of physical and mental torture.
Vritra hugged his mother back and comfortingly patted her back, he allowed her to cry in his arms for a long time. This was the first time he had seen his mother in such a state in over eighteen years. In his mind, her image was that of someone strong, someone who stood straight no matter what kind of problem they faced and always overcame them in the end.
But now, she looked so weak and helpless. He wrapped his arms around her in a protective manner; at this moment, more than anger, he felt sadness seeing her like this. Just like her, he also wanted to protect her from any kind of harm.
Even if he had to slaughter a few kingdoms for it, unlike those who would sacrifice their loved ones for the greater cause.
…
After almost an hour had passed, Vanessa finally seemed to have calmed down to some extent but she still remained in his arms and refused to move away, fearing he might disappear again.
"Tell me, what happened? Why are you in such a state? Did you get injured? Did—" once she started, Vanessa kept throwing questions at him, one after another.
"Wait mom, let me speak." Vritra said, then he released a long breath.
"Actually, while I was inside the labyrinth I had decided to wander around separately from others; not long after, someone attacked me from behind. I am not completely sure who it was or why they did it, but it must be the commander or someone from my team.
But I was able to escape and ended up falling in a trap…" Vritra began to recite the story but he hid a few things so as not to make her worry too much, like the endless waves of demons that he fought, the presence of the mythic halo, and the dragon lady.
Vanessa was very worried about him. After hearing his words she was furious and almost rushed out of the room but was held back by him. After hearing the whole story she asked:
"Who were the people that helped you?"
"They were a team of five who had gone there to hunt demons but luckily they spotted me and saved me. After bringing me back, they left immediately since they were going to some important mission outside the kingdom." Vritra replied, he had to mix some lies among all the truth.
"I wanted to thank them…" Vanessa mumbled but then her brows creased as another thought came to her mind.
"Since someone had already attacked you, now that you are back, they might try it again, we should ask…" Vanessa wanted to ask the goddess for help but she knew that the goddess couldn't be trusted, and in this situation, they couldn't trust anyone.
Neither the king nor the Goddess, not even the people they had transmigrated with; the two of them could only depend on each other.
"Heh don't worry mom and look at this." After speaking, Vritra gestured towards the empty space in front of him. Vanessa looked over and her eyes instantly opened wide in surprise and bewilderment.
"L- Level 181?!!" Vanessa stared at his status window which displayed only his level. She knew how difficult it was to level up just based on Lucian's classmates who were all still low level even after a month.
Vritra gave her time to take in all the information. He had no reason to hide his strength from his mother, the only person he trusts. On the other hand, if she still believed he was weak, it would be much easier for outsiders to take advantage of them.
"How did you get at that level in just a month?" finally Vanessa asked. She didn't even want to imagine what he must have gone through in there, all alone; just the thought made her feel a deep pain in her heart.
"Mom, you should have heard that the time inside the labyrinth is different. In the trap I had fallen into, the time there passed more than two times as fast as the outside. So it wasn't just one month for me and the people who saved me were of quite high level, they helped me kill many demons." Vritra explained, then he added:
"Now you won't have to worry about any danger, with my current strength I will protect both of us… I- I missed you so much, I was really worried about you."
Vanessa was smart enough to sense a little bit of lies in his story. She was familiar with every one of his expressions and even the way of talking, but for now, she decided not to ask any further questions. She was just so happy that he was back to her.
She could feel his worry and love. Now she was thankful that she hadn't succeeded in her suicide attempts; otherwise, she couldn't even imagine how heartbroken he would have been.
Tightening her arms around him, Vanessa's head rested over his chest. She looked downwards and her eyes held complicated emotions as if she was just about to make a really big decision.
'What would be the point of hesitating if I were to really lose him? I am happy as long as he is with me, nothing else matters.' Just as this thought came to her mind, the doubt vanished from her eyes; instead, she was determined about this decision of hers.
'I am sorry honey, your mother will have to do something indecent to you… it is for both our sakes, I hope you understand.' Vanessa sighed in her heart but she had already made up her mind. That is the only thing she could do to help Vritra and herself.
Both of them remained silent. Vanessa stayed in his arms, feeling the warmth that she missed so much. It wasn't long before Vanessa fell asleep. This time she felt relaxed unlike before where she fell asleep because of the medicines.
'Sigh we can't stay in this kingdom for too long, I will have to find a way to leave as soon as possible…' Vritra thought. Seeing his messy appearance, he decided to take a proper bath and change into a new set of clothes.
But just as he tried to move, he found himself entangled in his mother's tight embrace, even in her sleep she was holding onto him so desperately; he smiled and decided to wait until she wakes up.
******
The commotion of the attack soon died down even though two people were almost crushed to their deaths but no one was able to find the location or identity of the attacker.
Jace and Tyler were both brought to the temple and fed with high level healing potions, they were saved just in time, and most of their injuries healed.
__________
Thanks for reading…