Opening the door was what looked like a woman in her late fifties. She had wrinkled skin and her body was thin, to say the least.
The only thing which made Zane not doubt that this was his mother was her voice. Zane couldn't believe it, he had only been gone for a couple of years but his mother had aged a couple hundred!.
His heart pained at the thought that this was because of his disappearance. At that moment he regretted the three years he spent in the forest.
'I should have come home after Chris robbed me' he thought.
"Z.....Zane?" Olivia stammered as she felt her long lost son's face.
"I'm home mother" Zane croaked, doing his best to suppress the tears in his eyes. He didn't want to seem weak in front of Cora.
However Olivia didn't hold back her tears as she bawled her eyes out, pulling Zane into the tightest hug he had ever experienced in his two lives.
"I'm sorry mother, something happened and i couldn't come home" Zane tried to explain, but his words fell on deaf ears. Olivia was too busy cherishing the moment.
After a few seconds, she finally let go and looked at Zane in the eyes, then she slapped him with all the power her frail limbs could muster.
Of course, to Zane that slap felt like a gentle breeze. "Never do that again young man do you hear me?. Do you have any idea what we went through!?" she shouted.
"Mother i..."
"Come here!" she then dragged Zane by the arms and led him behind the house, with Cora following silently.
"I know you can't see that but---"
"Actually i can mother it's a stone slab" Zane said, looking at the slab Olivia was pointing at.
"That's not just any stone slab, that's your grave!!" Olivia shouted.
Zane's mouth hung open, the last time he checked he was still alive.
That's when it really hit him. Zane's parents had thought he died to the point of having a ceremony for him.
'I can't blame them though' he thought 'A blind 15 year old boy alone in a world like this one is suicide'. Zane then thought about how he was ready to actually kill himself and felt even more bad.
Involuntarily, a few tears fell from his eyes "I'm sorry mother, it will never happen again" he said.
Olivia could feel her son's pain and she went to give him another hug, this time the role of crying had been reversed.
"Ohh my Celestial!!" Olivia shouted, pushing away Zane with enough force to send him flying a couple of meters. Of course Zane just stumbled a little bit.
Olivia then dashed towards Cora before trapping her in another hug. Cora was an experienced mage, however she was caught off guard by a frail mortal woman.
Cora didn't know what to do so she just hugged Olivia back "Welcome home my daughter" Olivia said.
"What?" Zane and Cora both blurted out.
"You sure know how to pick then son" Olivia said, fixing Cora's hair. Zane was about to rebuke when Cora spoke.
"Actually, we are the ones who picked him" she said, shocking Zane.
"Then you sure know how to pick them" Olivia smiled and Zane couldn't help but facepalm.
"Mother, I'm hungry" he said, he didn't want his mother and Cora to bond.
"Of course, come in the house we'll have a cup of tea" Olivia said leading the way towards the house.
"Mother, where's father?" Zane asked. He found it quite strange that his father hasn't appeared out of nowhere to also praise his skills at picking women.
At the mention of Owen, Olivia's smile disappeared and her eyes became watery. Once again Zane felt the pain he was feeling back in the city everytime he thought about his mother.
"What happened mother?" he asked, his voice breaking in between and a lump forming in his throat. "Where is my father?" he asked again.
"He's in your old room" Olivia answered painfully. Cora put her arms around her, trying to console her even though she didn't know why she was crying, she did have an idea though.
When Zane heard of his father's whereabouts he immediately rushed towards the house and entered his room.
Lying on a bed in the middle of the room was Owen, he lay there unmoving while facing the roof. Zane heaved a sigh of relief when he saw his chest moving up and down, and another sigh when he heard his heartbeat.
"Father are you sleeping at this time of the day?" Zane said.
Immediately when Zane started talking, Owen's eyes snapped open, however he didn't stand up, he was still lying in the bed even though he was now wide awake.
"Father?, what's wrong. I see you guys bought new blankets but are they that good to make you sleep in the middle of the day?" Zane joked as he went and sat on the bed.
Owen's eyes started tearing up before the tears broke free and flowed onto the soft white pillow underneath his head.
"Father!?" Zane held Owen's arm, however he couldn't since he only felt the bed. Zane quickly removed the blanket covering his father and what he saw made him weak by the knees
Owen only had one arm and one leg, his face was also mangled with scars. Without wasting time Zane put his hand on Owen's abdomen and began pumping mana into his body. This was the moment that Cora entered with a crying Olivia.
Olivia gasped in shock as she witnessed her husband's leg healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. That was her first time ever seeing something like that happening.
Cora was also shocked. She had heard that Zane was a good healer but the speed she was seeing was insane. Not even High Mages specialized in healing could do that.
However, before the leg could regenerate up to the knee.....
<
"No!" Zane said, trying to transfer more mana, but failing to do so. Alex had blocked his own mana reserves.
<
Zane hated to admit it, but Alex was right. Gritting his teeth he stood up "Mother, stay with father. I will be back right now. Cora follow me"
Cora, just like Olivia and even Owen himself were very confused. "Where are we going?" Cora asked as she dashed after Zane, who was already out the door.
"Hunting"