"Ahhhh!" I sat up after waking up abruptly.
It was the dead of night when I woke up all sweaty. There was no light source aside from the moonlight that was shining in through the window. I held my pocket watch that was placed at my side and checked the time. 3am exactly was the time shown on the watch. Still plenty of time before dawn arrives but I worked up a sweat. Realising that it would be uncomfortable to continue sleeping, I decided to take a refreshing bath before getting back to bed.
"Onii-chan? What's wrong? Another nightmare?" asked Rose as I stroke a match to light a candle at my bedside.
"Y.. yeah. Moi decided to pay a visit again when Kirin and Byakko were talking to me. Feel like I'm forgetting something," I rubbed my forehead.
"I guess she is planning to visit all of us in our dreams, huh? She was in my dream too. She warned us that the journey ahead is going to be rough for us and she will do whatever she can to help us. We were completely mistaken that she was disturbing us or Daisy," she breath a sigh of relief.
"Did she tell you about cosmic beings and their vessel or champions? Or about Daisy's condition?" I asked her.
"Yeah. I allowed her to explain as to why she wanted to visit Daisy in her dream and she mentioned that it was Daisy who searched for her instead. It was because of us, Zen. Our daughter is worried and misses us. I think this will be the last adventure that we will travel together. I can't bear the thought that Daisy is feeling all alone when both her parents goes out to protect the world and neither of us are at her side. It.. reminded me when I was alone in this world," she explained.
"Yeah. You're right. I doubt there'll be a good onii-chan that randomly appears to help her. I'll find other allies to travel with me next time. I need you on this trip so we should enjoy it while it last," I smiled.
"Maybe I should let you and Lily travel alone instead. Perhaps something might bloom. Heh heh," she chuckled.
"Ha ha, very funny. You know I won't betray you no matter what. Feels like I'm forgetting something. What is it?" I racked my brain.
"Really? Are you sure? Even if Lily does this?" Rose started crawling on top of me and blew off the candle.
It was relatively dark now and I couldn't see her features. But I thought of playing along just for her sake.
"Zen, why won't you choose me? I love you, just as much as Rose. Perhaps even more," she imitated Lily's voice.
"Lily, you know I can't reciprocate your feelings. I'm married and I have a child of my own. I am sorry," I played along.
"Zen, I don't care if I end up as your mistress or even a concubine. Let me be with you. I'll do whatever you want. I'll do anything that Rose doesn't want to do," she continued as she lowered her rear region on my crotch.
Oh boy, not good. Any reaction and she will definitely know. It's just Rose and not Lily on top of me. I can control myself.
"Alright Rose. Fun's over. I want to take a bath and continue my sleep," I placed my hand on her shoulder to push her off.
She quickly moved my hand to her chest which shocked me. What is she trying to do? It's way too early for us to be doing stuffs like this. Something else happened that shocked me. Strands of silver hair flowed down from above the ear. Shit, is this another one of the microsleep? I thought Moi had taken care of that?!
"Damn it! Moi, I need help here. I thought you said that I won't be having anymore microsleep. I don't want to dream of Lily raping me!" I shouted.
Someone opened our door with a light source. It was Daisy and she was rubbing her eyes.
"Mommy, why is your room so noisy?" asked Daisy as she held the candle towards us.
Her eyes grew widen as she saw Rose wearing a silver hair wig straddling on top of me. She quickly closed our door and the sound of her running back to her room could be heard. Rose burst out laughing and fell to the bed. I sighed loudly as I prepared myself for a quick bath before I continued sleeping. How are we going to explain to Daisy tomorrow about what happened? Rose decided to follow along for a quick bath of her own. That is not going to do me any favours after the things she did earlier.
"Ahh, that was just so funny. And you thought it was a dream too. You definitely had a reaction, didn't you?" she chuckled.
"I can't believe you would pull such a prank. Where did you even hid the wig in the first place?" I squinted at her.
"My secret. Haha!" She laughed.
Rose begun stripping to place her clothing on a basket before heading into the bathroom. I glanced at her and noticed that she is getting older. After giving birth, she had stretch marks that she struggled to get rid off. Not that I mind in the first place as giving birth is a difficult task. But unlike me, she was certainly getting older while I remained the same. My body was suspended in time due to whatever Lily did to resurrect me.
Thinking about it, will I outlive Rose? Or even Daisy? No. I don't believe that is the case. My body might be young but I won't live longer than a normal human being. But what if I am mistaken, what if I really outlive Rose? I will end up alone with Daisy. Me, a father who couldn't even realised that Daisy had age condition until people pointed out to me. I hate to admit that I am not exactly a good father.
I walked closer and hugged Rose from behind. She was surprised by my action, probably due to my younger brother as well. She might had thought I wanted to sleep with her right here right now.
"Rose, if you're so insistent that I make Lily my second wife, then during this trip, I will do what I can to persuade her. Anytime you feel uncomfortable about it, you let me know," I whispered to her.
"W..w..www… what's going on? What's with the sudden change of heart out of the blue? You were stubborn for so many years and you just decided to change your mind just like that? What is going on in your head, Zen Hawthorn?" She kept blinking as she asked me.
"Well.. I just thought of the future a little. About you and my condition. A lot of what ifs involved but maybe it might help in the long run. Just a little scenario I thought off where you might not be.. alive?" I suddenly recalled my dream.
"Yes, I'm glad you're finally realising things now. I am getting older while you remained young. There will come a day where I no longer be around. Which is why I kept insisting for you to marry Lily so she can help take care of Daisy and you," she confessed.
"No no no.. I take it back. I won't be pursuing Lily. I need to keep you alive no matter what. I will not let you leave me," I explained to her.
"Zen.. onii-chan. I will not always be around at your side. I will eventually die. If its not from old age or any incoming battle that arises. You will need to come to terms with it when it happens. And I need you to promise me that you will take care of Daisy. Please dear?" she pleaded as she places both her hands on my cheeks.
"I promise you that I will take care of Daisy. And I will do whatever it takes to keep you alive. Even if I have to fight the Death God himself to bring you back," I promised her.
"Death God? Is the even a real Cosmic Being?" she chuckled.
"I just said it to make it more dramatic," I shrugged.
She chuckled as she headed into the bathroom. She also reminded me that I must pursue Lily and make her my wife. No more change of heart. I made an empty promise to her as Lily was never my main priority. Now, I have a new objective after my old one 15 years ago. It was thanks to Moi helping me realising it. I need to keep Rose alive. No matter what it takes.
Main Objective: Waifu must live!
***
A new day arrived and Daisy seems to hate me. She thought that I had forced Rose to pretend as Lily so I could make-believe that I was sleeping with her. Not only is that degrading towards Rose but also my integrity as her father. Rose had explained to her that what she imagined was not true but she certainly laughed her ass off upon hearing it. Here I am being associated with more weird fetishes despite some of them not being true.
We were now inside one of Peter's meeting rooms along with him. Lily was here too but she was covering her face with her hands. She must had been ashamed about what she told us yesterday night when she thought we won't be meeting so soon, not to mention travelling together at that.
"Been a while, isn't it, Lily?" both Rose and I chuckled.
"Noo! Don't remind me! I'm already ashamed right now. You guys are evil for not telling me about this yesterday," shouted Lily as she continued covering her face.
"Ahem, shall we begin?" asked Peter.
"Right. So, what's the plan? How are you going to alert us on any incoming monster attacks?" I asked Peter.
"Sorry to interrupt, Sensei. But how would this tracking be any different than anything we did before? No offence to Zen and Rose, but even you couldn't find out where there were heading," asked Lily.
You can sense the frustration in her voice. I know she means well as they must had launched plentiful attempts at tracking these monsters but none of them shed any light on what they are or why they are attacking in the first place. Why would things be any different just because Rose and I are attempting to track them?
"That's because the three of you will be the one performing the tracking this time around. My three most gifted students that I have faith in. That, and Zen seems to have an idea that can make full use of your gifts as an elf," he smiled.
"H.. Huh? What does that mean?" asked Lily as she tilted her head.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let us run through what plan you have in stored for us first," I asked Peter.
"Very well. When the monster attacks occurs, which I suspect will be anytime between today or tomorrow, my people will sound the alarm from the bell tower and inform you on the exact location of the attack. You will have to rush over to said location and commence your plan. My soldiers will do whatever they can to help you but do remember that they are mostly normal humans and not high ranking adventurers," he explained.
"Alright. I guess we will have to be on standby until the monster attack us. Got to make sure we have our backpacks ready. And also a location where we can hear the bell and announcements," I mumbled while thinking out loud.
"Zen, I'm sorry, but what is this plan of yours? I'm sorry for being skeptical but.. I just want to know that we are not wasting our time," she sighed.
"Is doing nothing better than actually doing something? Here, this is going to be the key to our mission's success," I smiled and held out a small looking bell.
"A... bell? Do you think this is the first time someone thought of this? The monsters have sensitive hearings and they will destroy it when you attempt to put any on them. These monsters are not fools, Zen. I'm sorry if I am coming off as rude but... we had tried almost everything by now," she flustered and gripped her hands.
I walked closer to her but her gaze remained focus on the ground. I held out my index finger and placed it on her lips which snapped her out of her emotional state. I recalled doing this once before when we first met. I wonder if she remembers it.
"Shhh.. let me finish. Do you hear the ringing sound?" I rang the bell on my hand.
She nodded her head without saying a word as my finger was still on her mouth. I can see that she was starting to blush when my face was close to hers. I tossed the bell towards a soldier at the far end of the meeting room. I gestured him to ring it which he did.
"How about now? Can you still hear it?" I asked once more.
She nodded once again which made me smirked. Seems like the plan is going to work after all. Lily looked confused and so were the others. The soldier holding the bell was literally placing it next to his ear just to hear anything.
"Lily.. you recall the time when we were together in the elven forest for a couple of years? You told me my hearing was bad when I couldn't hear the ringing of the bells there. But the truth was, it was actually a bell designed for elven ears only. I found this bell in one of the shops at Marrydia where I held my marriage and honeymoon. Daffodil was the one who highlighted to me about this discovery. Even she was stumped that neither Rose or I could hear the bell. I bought it out of curiosity and perhaps to prank you but it turns out, there is a purpose for it now. I've already tested this out with the monsters and it would appear that they do not have any reaction to it. I can't pull this plan off because I needed an elf, someone who is willing to join me, to track with me. That person is you, Lily. You are the key to this mission's success," I explained to her.
"M.. me? You.. need me?" she asked as her face was getting redder.
"We always needed you, Lily. Are you on board with this mission?" I asked while extending my hand.
She turned her back towards me and clapped her face cheeks. A couple of seconds later she turned towards me and shook my hand in agreement. I guess we will be travelling along after all. Yay!