"Who's there?" The man asked, clearly unable to see in the dark cellar.
"Daddy, why?" I sniffled. "We thought you were dead!"
I recognized him. Those rugged hands of a farr. The wrinkles of a life toiling under the sun.
"Who are you? Are you one of my daughters?" The man asked.
On a primal level, deep in the ss of cages that were Apricot's core, I couldn't believe. These cages now were all open and a flood of emotions flashed, too strong to be contained, too fast to be understood by my handicapped brain. I was being overwheld. Apricot would either break or shut down.
"Tell the na of your daughters," I asked.
A sliver of hope. Maybe he would get it wrong.
"Mirabelle, Olive, and Cerise," He said and stopped talking.
He didn't say my na. It infuriated . Didn't he recognize as his daughter? Even though I was calling him "daddy" not a minute ago?
"The wife you abandoned, what's her na?" My voice felt as cold as a hundred blizzards. As if my life fled with each exhalation.
"Juniper. The adulterous woman I abandoned was called Juniper."
"Why? Truth-Seeking! I used a Skill. If you lie to , I'll know," I bluffed.
People didn't have to shout the na of their Skills. I didn't. But it is a widespread habit, to better coordinate teams and to show up.
"That wretched woman birthed an abomination. I couldn't look at that retarded child she brought unto the world. It was obvious she had slept with so other man and that was a punishnt from the gods! I tried to get rid of the little monster but it showed up! Fortunately, the Gods brought money and that night I had a dream! That I should take the money and go out to seek a new life!"
"So you did."
"Yes! But people ratted out to the tax collector! I had to fake my death to skip town without anyone on my heels!"
Mother wept for this scumbag of a man. I shook my head. My whole being was brimming with killing intent. The were-jaguar wanted to bit his neck off, {Vorpal Bite} or not. I kept myself still. Trembling.
"What about Apricot? What about your youngest daughter, daddy?" I shouted at him. "What about ?"
"Apricot is not my daughter!" He spat. "My children are strong and perfect! That defect is the product of adultery!"
"Did you live a good life these five years, daddy?" I asked. There was a knife in my chest, acid eating my belly, a rock lodged in my throat. There was murder in my voice.
"Please don't kill ," He begged.
I walked with lumbering steps to the door. There I picked up the bronze dagger. I walked back and threw it so the dagger would slide across the ground and hit his feet.
"There's a dagger at your feet, daddy. Take it and defend yourself."
He crouched and tapped around, almost nicking his finger on the sharp dagger. He took it and stood up, waving the weapon in the dark.
"My na is Apricot. My Class is [Assassin]. My mother is Juniper and my father, my father... is dead. My father died five years ago, mugged when he went to buy dicine for my brother Almond's severed wound. My father loved us. All of us. He never abandoned us."
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My delusion went on. I rambled and spoke and I knew that if I didn't keep in mind that I was making that up, Apricot's mind would make believe it to be true.
"Daddy wept when he sold to the rchant. He was overjoyed when I returned. Our family missed our father all these five years. Without him, we suffered."
"I see before the man that murdered my father. I see before the man that forced mom and Mira to whore themselves. The man that made Olive a sex slave to disgusting n. I'm glad Cerise never had to suffer any indignity beyond the disgusting hands of the slave trader.
"Mirabelle had a daughter. My father, if he was alive, would be a granddaddy. Her na is Anjou. She's a happy girl. Innocent. She will have every opportunity this world has to offer. She will soar through the skies."
He dropped the dagger. "I have a granddaughter?"
"NO!" I shouted. "You have nothing, wretched scum. Not even your life!"
I jumped and hit his stomach with my knee. The System cared about numbers, not physics. My father bucked in the middle and fell on his butt. He punched . I flew back. Even though he was a farr, all of his Attributes went to Strength and Endurance only.
Farr punched you. You lost 45 HP.
"Say my na, bastard," I spat. "Say the na of your fourth daughter!"
"Begone, monster!" He reached for the dagger and swung wildly.
I stood up.
I asked the fairy.
I felt my hand wet and then cold. The ice spike in my hand felt cold but it didn't bother . It wasn't uncomfortable. I lunged and stabbed his thigh, rolling on the ground to evade his retaliatory swing. I didn't have to. {Stunning Bleed} activated.
After a pause, the fairy concluded,
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