I exited the portal and found myself standing in the grotto from where we left off for the Turquoise Realm. The concentration of energy inside the grotto had increased manyfold.
I looked around and found that there was no one present in the grotto. While we left for the Turquoise Realm, the elders present had stated that they would be stationed here, maintaining the stability of the portal till the end of the exploration duration. But they were nowhere to be found.
I walked out of the grotto and found that the inner sanctum of the sect was also deserted. I didn't feel any other person's presence beside me.
I could have used the remaining transportation talisman left with me and teleported to the valley where our residence was. It was the original plan as the Regions family would have tried to confine me the second I exited the portal and questioned about Callum.
The exploration time of 30 days was nearly over. And as Callum and many others still hadn't left the portal, while I came out alone. It would have raised their suspicions towards me.
As no one was hindering me, something big might have happened in the sect. And if Alice was implicated in this, then it would be terrible. So, I searched throughout the sect to check the situation properly and find traces of Alice and the Luna sisters. I even checked the main sect hall where the sect master and the elders held their meetings.
But there was not a single soul present in the sect. There were no disciples and elders. It didn't seem like they were attacked in the sect, rather that the sect was entirely deserted by their own volition.
I left the gates of the sect and froze at the sight. The ground in front of the sect was charred. There were burnt marks all over the place. Additionally, there were traces of blood, although minute, all over the place. It could be deduced that whoever attacked the sect here had tremendous power that obliterated the people from the sect that even the blood couldn't get the time to fall on the ground.
As I didn't find any traces of Alice and the Luna sisters, I left the premises of the sect and continued on my way back to my home. This time, I used the transportation talisman to directly teleport to the valley. The valley was, as usual, silent, without any other living organism in sight.
The second I set my feet on the ground, a gust of wind blew my hair away. I covered my eyes with a hand and looked at the front with squinted eyes. A woman in a white dress was standing in front of me.
She had silky smooth black hair flowing to her waist. Her big almond-shaped eyes were blue like sapphire jewels. She had a beautifully crafted face with a small round nose and cherry-red lips. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes betrayed her emotions as they were moist with tears.
Her otherworldly beauty was fatigued as her cheeks were sunken, and dark circles were under her eyes. Who could she be other than my mother?
She walked close to me. Her hands touched all over my face. And after a prods and touches, she hugged me fiercely. My head was engulfed in her bosom as she was taller than me. I, too, hugged her. I closed my eyes, relaxing into her embrace. We stayed like that for a few moments, and then, feeling a little embarrassed by my indulgence, I separated from my mother.
She looked at me and smiled. I was preparing myself for the bombardment of her questions, but she didn't say anything else as she just grabbed my hand and started walking towards our home. Feeling a secure warmth around my hand, I followed her without any protest.
We walked for a few minutes and reached the entrance of our residence. We entered the house, and the few maids who saw my mother and me hand-in-hand were first startled, and then they had happy smiles plastered all over their faces. Mother pulled me to the training courtyard.
Before I entered, I could hear incessant sounds of metals clashing from quite a distance away. When I entered the training grounds, I saw Alice fighting with a few maids.
Her shoulder-length black hair was tied up in a ponytail. Her round sapphire eyes were glistening with focus. Her flaming red dress was sticking to her petite body.
She was biting her small lips in focus. Beads of sweat were cascading down her body, drenching her. There were cuts all throughout her body. Even the hands which were holding the swords dripping with blood. Her fingers were swollen, and her knuckles had turned white with how strongly she was holding the sword.
She was so concentrated in the training that she hadn't noticed our presence. The maids had noticed our presence and moved away from Alice. Alice also noticed the maids' eyes were directed somewhere else. She followed their gaze, and her eyes met mine.
She stood still there, dumbstruck. Her body, which had become much scrawnier since I last saw her, was shivering. I closed our distance and hugged her. Feeling my arms around her, she came out of her daze and hugged me fiercely. She was sniffling and, after some time, started bawling out loud.
I patted her back and gently reassured her that I was there with her. She calmed down after some time, and we separated from each other.
She then told the maids that she would train with them later. She wanted to ask many things and started to barrage me with them. Mother intervened and said.
"You both go and clean yourselves up. Afterwards, come to my room. There, Lucas could tell about the happenings in the realm."
Alice reluctantly nodded and went to her room to bathe. I also went to my room and tidied myself. Afterwards, I entered mother's room. Alice was already there, with mother combing her hair. I sat beside them and started mentioning what happened in the realm after Alice and the Luna sisters left.
I deliberately tried to twist the facts to make my situation less dangerous. But mother caught on to my lies. As she had already detected my lie, I didn't try to bluff any longer and told them everything. How I used poison to fight with Callum and his men, how the beast tried to devour me and somehow how my soul was stronger, resulting in its destruction.
Even though I told her the truth, I left the things that happened after I lost consciousness. Like about the blurry visions I saw during the nightmarish fall, the vivid vision I saw while drowning in the swamp and the indecipherable words I heard before regaining consciousness.
I also gave mother the beast core that I retrieved. She looked at the core, returned it to me, and said.
"If you want to protect others, then you have to grow strong, much stronger than the adversities you face. So, use this core yourself and increase your strength."
I looked at Alice, and she smiled warmly, indicating that I should use it for myself. I no longer lingered around that topic and stored the core inside my storage space. As I had recounted my end of the story, I asked them the things I was curious about.
"Where are Elfie and Seline?"
"They stayed with us for a few days, awaiting your return. But as the situation of their grandfather couldn't be delayed much longer, they left. I told them that we would visit their home after you came back. So we should go there tomorrow. We could also check on their grandfather's condition."
Alice answered my question. I understood the innuendo in her last statement. If their grandfather was healed of his damaged meridians, then there was a high chance that the Tetraspine plant could heal mother's meridians, too. But we had to check on his condition before giving ourselves hope.
I was also curious about the Highland Origin sect. So, I raised the question about it. Alice had a sheepish expression and looked at mother from the corner of her eyes. Mother looked at Alice and just smiled. She then looked at me and answered with a smile and gentle voice, but there was a hint of anger in her eyes.
"After Alice and the Luna sisters returned and explained the situation to me, I got to know how that Callum guy treated both of you and also was the reason that you suffered in the realm. So, I demanded the Regin family for an explanation. The sect elders came to their support, and thus, they all were eliminated altogether. After the senior executives of the sect were dead, the disciples deserted the sect so as to not get implicated.
We tried to enter the grotto, but somehow it repulsed everyone outside. So, we could not enter the realm to get you back. I knew you would return back on your own strength and thus came back here. But I was anxious about your return. Seeing that you overcame the danger and returned safely made me finally relax. And that's the story."
I exhaled the air that I was holding inside. I always had visualised my mother to be gentle when she pampered us, who was regal when she trained us, and was the fiercest lioness when she protected us. I had seen the first two faces of my mother, but her fierce side for protecting her children left me in awe.
We spent the remaining day of ours, spending time leisurely and happily. Later that night, we slept together in the same bed, with each of us spooning the other. We had deepened our bonds due to the incident, and I strengthened my resolve even further to keep this bond unbroken forever.