Penelope finished getting dressed and looked over at Crow as the thief seemed to be fighting against his weariness. She smiled a little and was about to tell him they needed to go but didn't get the chance as he suddenly collapsed. The knight blinked in surprise. She had known he was tired but she didn't think he had been tired enough to pass out as quickly as he had. She was about to go try to wake him up but didn't get the chance as something else caught her attention. The ground rumbled softly beneath her and a blinding light coming from the direction of the pond made her wince and turn her head away.
She struggled to remain steady on her feet as the ground shook underneath her. It was so sudden that she barely had a chance to wonder what was going on. The strangest thing was that it seemed to stop just as quickly as it started. The ground fell still and the blinding light was gone, letting the darkness of the night fall yet again. Penelope lifted her head to look over towards where the light had come from, curious of what had caused it. She had never seen a light that bright before. Was it a sharp reflection or some kind of powerful lantern? Why had the ground shaken too?
As her gaze shifted back over towards the pond, she jumped as an unknown man suddenly stood there. The knight tensed and shifted a bit closer to Crow—who she couldn't believe was still out cold after the earth shaking beneath them. As she studied this unusually tall stranger with a narrowed gaze she noticed he was dressed in lavish armor with a long white cape that fluttered in the passing breeze. He was muscular with a large sword sheathed at his hip. But, perhaps, the most alarming thing about him were his glowing eyes. They reminded her of sunlight, the way they shone bright and warm even in the dark.
"W-Who are you? What are you doing here?" she demanded nervously.
The man smirked and crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Oh wow... You're still in denial after all of that? I even tried to make it easy for you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Penelope questioned warily.
The man let out a sigh as if slightly disappointed. "Here, I'll give you a clue." He suddenly unsheathed his sword—making the knight reach for the dagger in her boot—and striked a defensive pose with sunny gaze narrowing with determination. There was a familiarity that made Penelope freeze and study him. She had seen that pose before and now that she looked at him, he did look familiar. The knight felt her heart suddenly drop with a wave of both panic and shock. That was the pose of the Brerratic god Toreus, the god of resilience and prosperity. She had seen him in many alters and many prayed to him during times of hardships, she had even done so a couple times herself during sticky situations when there was nowhere else to turn to despite her beliefs that the gods kept out of mortal affairs. But surely, this wasn't him. It couldn't be... Could it?
"There's no way." she said shaking her head in disbelief.
Toreus relaxed once more and sheathed his sword. "Guess again, Penelope Vermillion." he said, his smirk returning as he watched her eyes widen as he used her name.
"E-even if you are, why would a god visit me?" Penelope stuttered. Gods visited heroes, people who had done great deeds, and perhaps the dying. But she wasn't a hero and as far she knew, she wasn't dying. Her gaze shifted to the pond behind him and she suddenly paled. If this man was Toreus, he must have been visiting her because of her sleeping with Crow on what was supposed to be holy land. "Oh gods... Is this about what we did?" Her gaze flickered to Crow and fear entered her gaze as she worried that perhaps soon he wouldn't just be sleeping. "L-look, I didn't actually think... I mean I would have never done anything if I thought it would actually offend you—"
The god raised an eyebrow at her then followed her gaze to Crow. Realizing what she was trying to say, a deep laugh erupted from him that seemed to radiate a similar warmth to his bright eyes and he shook his head. "Oh no this isn't about that." he chuckled with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I could care less about what you mortals do so long as it doesn't actually harm our pond."
Penelope felt her cheeks redden and she shifted uneasily on her feet. She still couldn't believe a god was speaking to her. She didn't want to believe it. But as she looked at his glow eyes again, she found it was nearly impossible for any other explanation. Perhaps I'm actually the one that passed out not Crow.. the knight thought with a glance towards the thief. That would make more sense.
"You're not dreaming." Toreus suddenly assured.
She blinked and shuffled her feet a bit. "Can you prove it?" she said with a hint of a challenge.
Toreus gave an amused look. "Yes but... I think I'll do so later." he mused with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Right now, there are more pressing matters to discuss." His expression turned serious which only further made the knight uneasy.
She was beginning to have trouble thinking it was just a dream. "What do you mean?" she asked tentatively, admittedly intimidated by the god before her.
"There's a war coming." he warned, his glowing eyes seeming to turn from sunlight to a forest fire as he spoke.
"There's already a war." Penelope pointed out with a frown.
Toreus shook his head. "This war will be unlike anything this kingdom has seen. Both Brerra and Younis will be be destroyed.. And that is just the start of the destruction." His gaze shifted to Crow on the ground. "Aeklora warned your companion of this when they met two years ago.. The war you face now was supposed to be stopped with the staff. But it failed." Penelope grimaced. The reminder of her failure to stop the war still managed to send a stab of guilt through her.
Toreus looked back to her, meeting her gaze as he went on, "There is still a chance for the kingdoms to be saved. When you return to the castle, you must convince the king of Brerra to end this war peacefully. It is the only way the people of Brerra and Younis will survive."
"I.. I don't understand." Penelope said nervously as she held his piercing gaze. "Why would the gods visit us to stop this? Why not just visit the rulers themselves? Surely that would be more effective. Especially if it's going to be that disastrous."
"There is no guarantee they would listen and powerful men are selfish ones. They twist the words of gods in their favor." Toreus responded. He looked down at both her and Crow and gave a small smile that seemed to hold a bit of fondness. "We'd rather put our trust in mortals we deem worthy to get such jobs done. You both are worthy with resilience even I can admire." He stood up a bit straighter. "Now then, you will do as I say, correct? The fate of Brerra and Younis depends upon it."
Penelope stared at him, a bit dumbfounded by the god's praise. She took a moment to recover from her shock before quickly nodding her head. "I'll do my best." she said quickly.
"Good." Toreus mused approvingly. "I'll take my leave then. It was good to finally meet you, Penelope Vermillion." He took a step back towards the pond then paused to look over his shoulder at her with a smirk. "You have been resilient so now let me offer you a small reward for it." He winked and the blinding light reappeared, making Penelope wince and turn away yet again.
In a flash, it disappeared and as she turned back to look the mighty god was gone and instead a woman stood near the edge of the pond. Penelope blinked in confusion. He had mentioned a reward not another visit.. Was she a goddess? The knight studied her for a brief moment. She had long, wavy brown hair with warm dark brown eyes. Her dress was a simple peasant dress and she appeared to be only a few years older than Penelope herself. While pretty, she certainly didn't look like a goddess. In fact, she just look like a peasant woman.
"Oh...my sweet girl." the woman cupped her hands over her mouth as her voice cracked with emotion. Tears formed in her big brown eyes and Penelope stared at her with confusion. The woman moved towards her and Penelope took a small step back, still unsure what was going on. Though as she got closer, she realized that the woman was slightly transparent.
"Who-Who are you?" she asked.
The woman stopped and opened her mouth to reply. However, her words fell short as her gaze shifted past Penelope onto something else that made her smile even more joyfully. "John. You're here."
Penelope froze and turned her head to see her father standing at the edge of the clearing. She was expecting him to be furious but instead found that he was staring at the woman with shock. "L-Lilliana?" he choked out in a voice so weak Penelope could barely believe it came from the stoic man. As the woman nodded her head, he suddenly charged forward, throwing his arms around her in a tight hug that she didn't hesitate to return.
"You know most would question their dead lover suddenly popping up a bit more." Lilliana giggled through the tears that streamed down her cheeks.
"I don't care. I'd recognize you anywhere, Lily." John choked out as tears began to stream down his cheeks as well. "Plus it helps that you haven't aged a day. How are you even here? Are we dead?"
"Far from it. The gods let me visit." Lillianna grinned.
Penelope stood to the side, watching them with shock. In all her years, she had never once seen her dad so emotional. In fact, she couldn't even recall ever seeing him cry before. Her gaze lingered on Lilliana as she mentioned being her father's lover and it quickly clicked who this strange woman was. Her began to beat with a mixture of excitement as well as nervousness. The knight took a small step towards her parents, both of them for the first time. "M-Mother?" she asked timidly.
John reluctantly let her go as she turned to address Penelope. "Yes.. Oh Penelope, come here." Lilliana smiled and suddenly wrapped her up in a tight embrace that was warm with love. A different kind of love that Penelope hadn't ever known before. A mother's love. Penelope's lip quivered and she buried her head into Lilliana's shoulder as she let out a couple quiet sobs, overwhelmed with the emotion of meeting the woman she had heard so little about.
"I-I can't believe it's you... I-I never thought I'd get to meet you." Penelope whimpered as she felt her mother rub her hand over her back comfortingly.
"I never thought I'd get to hold you again." Lilliana said with a soft chuckle as she pulled back to study Penelope's gaze. "My sweet little girl.. You're so strong and beautiful.. I couldn't be more proud of you." She touched a kiss to Penelope's forehead and then looked over at John, who was watching them with a soft gaze. Her mother frowned at him. "I wish I hadn't become such a painful memory to you, dear." she lowered her gaze to the ground. "To even keep me a secret from our own daughter...It was torture watching her grow up not even knowing who I was."
John lowered his gaze ashamedly. "I'm so sorry." he mumbled. "At first I was just trying to protect her from my family and then I-I just couldn't bring myself to tell her... I missed you so much Lily. I'm sorry I failed you so badly."
"You did." Lilliana scolded with a hint of hurt in her gaze. She let go of Penelope with one arm and reached to grab John's hand, pulling him closer to them. "And you can start fixing it after I leave by telling her about me. About us."
"After you leave?" John frowned.
"I'm not really here John." Lilliana smiled sadly. "The gods only granted me a short time with you before I eventually fade and go back to the heavens.." She squeezed his hand comfortingly. Her gaze shifted past him, landing on the still sleeping Crow. "And one more thing.. Stop giving Madeleine's son such a hard time. It's driving us both nuts."
John stiffened slightly and glanced at Crow. Lilliana let out a sigh, seeing his reluctance. "I know he's a thief and Albin's son but they do love each other dear and he's nothing like his father... And if you're not careful, you're going to lose Penelope. Surely you can understand. You left your family to be with me." she smirked at him teasingly. "Please John, it's painful watching you turn into a mean old man like your father."
Penelope blinked a little surprised to hear her mother approve of her relationship with Crow. It was the first time anyone had approved of them being together. Though more surprising then that was that it sounded like Lilliana knew Crow's mother, it made her curious but she was more interested in seeing how her father would react to her mother pushing him to back off. She looked over at him, surprised as the strict older man grimaced at being compared to his father before his gaze shifted to look at Penelope. He frowned and reached to place a hand on her shoulder, as if actually afraid to lose her. The man was normally so stoic that Penelope would have never guessed he'd be afraid of losing her. If anything she thought he'd only be furious with her for leaving.
"Alright.." He conceded softly. "I'll give him a chance.."
"Good." Lilliana smiled and pulled him into their embrace. For a moment, the three stood there, tightly holding each other close. No one seemed to want to move, all overcome with emotion. It all felt so warm to the knight, like what a proper family should feel like. Her father was so different with her mother around. It made her think of how life would have been if her mother had lived. Family would have meant much more to her if she had grown up with such love rather than resentment of who her mother was.
The peaceful moment eventually reached its end as her mother began to fade. They could no longer feel her touch and she was growing fainter by the second. Penelope frowned. "I don't want to say goodbye yet.. I just met you." she sniffled.
"I know dear but we'll meet again." Lilliana assured with a tearful smile. "But until then, live your life to the fullest and don't get hung up on the past." Her gaze shifted to John and she reached up to caress his cheek, only for her hand to fade through his face as she did. "Please tell her everything.. And trust the boy. Promise me."
"I promise.." John said in a weak voice.
"Good." she gave a warm smile. "I love you both and I'll always be watching over you."
With that, she faded from sight, leaving behind her family. Penelope trembled and dropped down to her knees, feeling overwhelmed with everything that had happened. She wiped tears from her eyes and stared at the pond in front of her. "That was real right? I-It wasn't a dream?"
"I don't think so... I hope not." John muttered as he tried to reign in his emotions. He looked down at his daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder. The two Vermillions fell into a silence as they stared at the pond, both trying to reign in their emotions before they'd have to move.
