"Then why can't I get close to them? Why can't they move?" Solus asked amid hiccups.
"Because I don't allow cheating!" Mogar sounded furious for the first time Solus had reached the Mindscape, Elina's face was twisted with anger. "If it was up to them, they'd hug you long enough to answer every single question you have but that's against the rules.
"You came here for my knowledge and you are allowed to fight for it. Anything else is an aberration and I won't stand for it."
Solus nodded, trying to lift the Fury.
'You heard Mogar. Those are not your real parents. They are just echoes conjured to challenge me. They are just things.' She repeated to herself over and over but her words lacked conviction.
Whatever logic told her, seeing Threin and Menadion sobbing in agony as they fought against the impulse to fight the intruder broke her heart. The new Fury at her feet weighed like a mountain because she didn't want to wield it.
The real hammer was in the physical world and the one in the Mindscape was just an expression of her will that refused to harm the father and mother she had longed to meet for years.
"Can we at least talk?" Solus asked.
"About your lives, yes. About the reason you came here, no." Mogar replied. "No cheating or I make them disappear and we move on to your next question."
The embodiment of the planet put her thumb against her middle finger, ready to snap them together and banish the rebellious echoes.
"Thank you." Young Elphyn nodded, turning toward Threin and taking a small step forward.
"I'm sorry, Dad." She hiccupped. "You died because of me. I was so happy to practice magic that I never worried about the dangers of your Awakening or the strain that chasing me around put on you.
"I killed you. I killed you with my carelessness. Please, forgive me."
"Is this what you think?" The shock was so great that Threin regained control of his body. "That I blame you for my death?"
His question received a nod as an answer, prompting him to take a step forward as well despite the pressure that Mogar put on him.
"It wasn't your fault but mine! You were just a child. We never told you about the risks of Awakening because we didn't want to make you worry. Your uppity aunt Loka reminded me of tempering my body every time she visited or called, but between taking care of you and my art, I never had the time.
"I thought that being an Awakened, I could do everything. That I didn't have to sacrifice anything. I was wrong. If only I painted a bit less and practiced a bit more, the breakthrough would have never killed me."
"I'm the one who should apologize. If not for me, your mother would still be alive as well and we would be together."
"But, you died chasing after me. You didn't have the time to practice because of me. Because I kept escaping to get your attention." Solus said.
"How could I blame you for loving me?" Threin was shocked and hurt by the guilt he saw on Elphyn's face. "Asking me to act like a parent is not a crime. I spent time playing with you because I loved it, not because you forced me."
He took another step forward, getting so close that he could almost touch her.
"Back when my body exploded, the thought of leaving you alone was so painful that I refused to die. I loved you so much that I defeated death. Yet when I saw how scared you were of my appearance, when I felt the hunger driving me to attack you and Ripha, I knew what to do.
"I had always believed that I could never abandon you and your mother. No matter the cost and circumstances. Yet when I realized it was the only way to protect you from myself, Epphy, it was the easiest decision of my life.
"I may not be the real Threin, but I know what your father felt for you. My- His final thought was begging for your forgiveness. He died because of his own arrogance and he hated himself for the pain you would carry your whole life because of it.
"I could never hate you, Epphy. It was my duty as a father to keep you safe. To make you happy. And I failed."
Solus struggled with all of her strength to cover that last stretch separating her from her father, but to no avail.
"I'm sorry, Mom." Cursing Mogar and her own weakness, young Elphyn turned toward Ripha. "After Dad died, I treated you like shit. I blamed you for everything that was wrong in my life.
"I was so obsessed with my own grief that I refused to see how much you were suffering. I needed a bad guy. Someone to blame for Dad's death and I took it out on you.
"If it wasn't for my stupidity, we could have spent our time together happily. You wouldn't have to be ashamed of your rebellious daughter. If not for me, you would have never taken in apprentices in the hope to give me a new family.
"It's only my fault if Bytra entered in our lives and it's only because of how I treated her that she killed us. I squandered our best years, never telling you how much I loved you or apologizing for everything I put you through.
"I knew I was wrong but I was too much of a coward to face you. I was too afraid to discover if you still loved me or if I had crossed the line with my behavior and all that you felt for me was spite."
"Oh, Epphy." Menadion dropped the Fury that bolted toward its new version.
The two hammers overlapped for a second and then became one.
"How could I get angry with you for blaming me of Threin's death when I was the one accusing myself over and over again? I was your mother and you just believed what I said.
"I should have been your rock, instead I fell apart and I dragged you down with me."
Ripha sighed, thinking back at those times when she had allowed Elphyn to see her drunk, crying herself to sleep while mumbling the words "It's all my fault".
"As for your juvenile escapades, I've never been ashamed of you because I knew you were just facing your grief in your own way. Quite the contrary, I hoped that you would find the strength to forgive yourself and me.
"Also, I didn't take in disciples just for you. I was trying to fill the void in my life left by Threin's death. I wasn't perfect, Epphy. I didn't know how to move on from there. I had killed my husband and driven my daughter away so I wanted a second chance.
"My apprentices were supposed to be *our* family. To be the bridge between us. Yet my obsession with my work turned it into a stupid competition, making you think that you had to earn my love through your work. That you had to prove something to me."
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