Father's regret, pt. II [Private]

Even on horseback, trip from Magnolia inside of Fiore to the border of Joya was a long one. First, Leila boarded ship that headed to Minstrel, from there she rode on the borrowed horse all the way to the mountains that signaled the border between nations. The whole trip, along with climb of these mountains took Leila several days. During those, she was angry, sad and restless at all times. Her mind was clouded with dark thought, not disappearing for a single moment. Her vision was narrowed, only looking for her goal and nothing else. Eyes red and dried from crying for days, she had finally made it to her destination. A small shack in a little clearing, travelers' rest in the middle of mountain range. A sight that was very familiar to the girl. She visited this place with her father more than once when they were travelling through the continent. It was their little home, a place where they would rest every now and then. Place where her father apparently come to life. He never explained if machias are born or created, but she did not really care. The main thing was that he was with her. But now he wasn't. Her legs were shaking as she approached that small house. It looked so far away, those few steps like miles upon miles. Looking at the abode from distance, she noticed that it was basically falling apart. A big hole in the roof was making it completely unfit for living, windows were smashed and the door was partially open. Not even knowing how much has passed, the girl finally got to the entrance. Scared more than she ever was, her shaking hand slowly pressed against the rotting wood, opening it. For what she was, nothing could prepare. Her father was seemingly sitting against the back wall of the single room. But she simply knew... from the dread hanging in the air and his pose. She knew that he was already gone. It was then that her legs just stopped supporting her weight. She fell down, staring at the golem in front of her. He was in his usual attire, his limbs completely limp and head tilted down. There was absolutely no sign of life. She was just sitting there, gods know for how long, before she started moving forward again. Unable to get back on her feet, she crawled on all four towards his body until even her hands gave out and she fell onto his body, covered in thick cloth. Her eyes suddenly felt heavy and tired. Not even capable of crying, she simply closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. It was only natural after trip that long.

Once she woke up, her hopes of it being one bad dream were shatter without mercy. He was still there, in the same position as before. Starting to cry again, Leila hugged him with all of her strength. It took her tens of minutes to let go and several hours to calm down. But once she did, she finally noticed several papers laying all around his body. They were messed up letters that he wanted to send her. Apparently it took a great deal to finally write a letter of goodbye that was good enough for his daughter. But that wasn't all that was scattered around. Notes on an unknown mage that successfully summoned a corrupted mother-tree from the gardens of Eden in the rocky area of Stella. Seemingly all information that could be gathered was in front of her eyes. Work of her father in his last few moments. And on the end of one of the papers, a name. Julius Somali. That was her father's conclusion. In his last breath, he arrived at the decision that it had to be him who summoned the tree and unintentionally gave birth to Leila. But other than the name, there was absolutely no info on him. In rage, Leila took the paper and tore it in half, cursing the name as loudly as she could. She was cursing, screaming and tearing up again. It was this man's fault that the golem didn't spend his last few moments with his daughter. All of this was his fault, this sentence was slowly engraved into Leila's mind. She never felt something like this before. This anger... this wrath. For the first time in her life, she wished death upon someone. But there was no way to reach this mage. Absolutely no chance of Leila having her revenge.

After that, she spent few days in her father's ruined home. She buried his body right next to it, thanking the gods for giving her magic that was capable of tearing apart the rocky ground. Creating roots that tore the earth apart, she eventually managed to created hole that resembled grave. It was a bit shallow, but it was better than leaving him inside of the building. Knowing humans and other races, someone would eventually find him there and dismantle him for mechanic parts. Something like that, she simply could not let happen. Before putting a cross into the grave made out of rocks and wood, she tried to gather some dirt, just barely covering the top of the grave. Planting few seeds, she used her magic to created a small, beautiful mountain garden on top of her father's body. Surely he would like the sight of it. And even though she was already travelling Fiore completely alone for some time now, she felt more lonely than ever. Staring the the empty cross, she prayed. The golem never told Leila his name. Apparently he never had one. He was simply... a traveler. But she simply didn't want to leave his cross empty. It looked... too sad. Too lonely. Grabbing a sharp piece of rock, she carved letters into the wood. "The best father in the world." Her writing far from the best, few of the words looking a bit crooked. But it had to suffice, as it was the best she could do. Offering a tiny smile, she got up and looked around. Before she buried him, she removed the cape that he was wearing. It was a great cloak that he always had, hiding his face and his inhuman identity from those, who were too narrow minded to understand. One look and anyone could tell that it was professionally made, not showing a single sign of aging, even after so many journeys. She took it into her hands and after few moments of thinking, she put it on. Something of his that she could take with her. Not only it would be a memory of her father, it would almost be as if he himself was protecting her from nature's elements. The thick material making sure that no rain or snow would touch her skin and no wind would make her cold. And big enough to hide her face when she would have to. A last gift from her father. With a sad smile, she started moving forward again. It was what he wanted. For her to continue on living among other humans. Only... a new seed was planted inside of her. A seed of hate for a single man that was responsible for her entire existence. There was no way to reach him now... but perhaps... perhaps one day, she would face him. But now, she only wanted to lead a normal life of a travelling mage. And maybe to make new friends that would help her as well. After all, she didn't want to be all alone. Because something like that would be just too sad. When she reached her horse at the bottom of Joya's mountains, she searched pockets of the coat. What she found was a torn piece of paper, just like the ones in the shack. But this one had only one single sentence written on it. "I wish I could spend my last moments with you, Leila." She clutched it against her chest, leaving this land with few more tears.