Book 2 Chapter 70

After concluding their hug, Grandma Thea knelt down and took a good look at Willow.

“So what’s your name, little one?”

She gave her estranged grandmother a smile. “My name’s Willow, that’s my sister Maple, and since you probably don’t remember her name, that’s my mentor Miss Mu.”

Thea arched a brow in surprise. “You’ve joined the Wanderers at such a young age? Their standards must have slipped in my time away.” She said that last bit mostly to herself, before addressing the group all at once.

“Where are my manners, welcome to my home. We should get ourselves all settled in before I start pestering everyone with my many questions.”

Willow’s grandmother grabbed a hold of her hand before escorting the group into her home. It was surprisingly spacious past the pelt covering the doorway, and crystals packed with qi created a warm ambiance to her rather sparse abode. There was a small table and a single chair padded with fur to one side, but the main room seemed to be mostly devoid of furnishing.

Something that her grandmother realized in short order.

“Just a moment, I can make a place for us to get comfortable.” With a burst of qi, and an effort of will she made a table and three rough chairs out of stone.

“Maple dear, can you grab that chair over there at the side? I need to go in the back and grab some furs for the rest of you to get comfortable on.” She then glanced down at Willow and gave her a hesitant smile. “Would you like to help me with that, Willow? Or would you rather stay out here with your sister?”

Willow returned her smile with one of her own. “I’d love to help!”

Her exuberant reply made her grandmother chuckle as she began to lead her deeper into her home. “Very well.”

After passing through a few hallways they eventually found what Willow could only guess was a storage room of some sort. Pelts, bones, and various rocks and crystals were piled haphazardly around the room. She was somewhat hesitant to enter after seeing a large skull near the entranceway, but her grandmother’s insistence settled the matter for her.

“Sorry about the mess, I really need to organize better, but it works for me and I wasn’t exactly expecting company anytime soon.” She said as she began to pick through the pile of pelts. They at least seemed to be cleaned and treated in some way so they were just a little musty, rather than stinking of rot and decay like Willow was expecting.

She then stacked a few in Willow’s arms while carrying some in her own. “That’s not too heavy for you?” She asked with concern. The pelts certainly weren’t light, but it was well within her limits so she nodded.

“It’s fine, Grandma.”

Being called that made the older woman beam. Though her expression fell almost immediately afterwards.

“Is your mother still…? No, don’t answer that yet, I can wait a little longer to find out. I’ve had years without hope, I can be patient for a few moments more.” She was almost rambling to herself at this point, and Willow had to wonder if the years of isolation had taken a toll on her.

Before she could try to comfort her grandmother she started moving out of the storeroom at a brisk pace and Willow had to struggle to keep up. She did eventually notice her grandchild lagging behind and adjusted her stride accordingly, but by then they were already almost back to the main room.

Miss Mu and Maple seemed to be chatting about something, but quickly stopped when they saw the two of them approaching with a bunch of pelts between them.

After a few moments more of setting up everyone was seated around the hastily constructed table and making themselves as comfortable as they could in their respective pile of musty furs while Thea served everyone glasses of cool water.

“I sadly don’t have much in the way of refreshments, but the water from the reservoir I’ve tapped into is quite enjoyable and delightfully crisp. Exousia and I had to subdue a water spirit living down there, but now we have an understanding and they know to leave us alone when I get a drink.”

Willow took a sip and found her grandmother to be quite correct, not only was it the tastiest water that she’d ever had, it was heavily saturated with water qi which provided a rejuvenating effect after drinking it. In fact, Willow was pretty sure she was sensing the traces of a concept in the glass in front of her, though it was faint.

Neat! Maybe Calypso would like to take a look at it.

“Can I have another cup or a bowl for my water spirit?” She asked her grandmother, her question causing the older woman to pause with a flicker of disappointment in her core before she forced a smile on her face.

“Of course, coming right up.”

Willow brought out Calypso and they all but leaped into the newly provided bowl of water, the red patterned raindrop basking in the qi rich liquid.

Grandma Thea was staring intently at the fist sized spirit. “Those patterns remind me of something. Is that spirit of yours related to that hateful spirit your mother’s friend had by any chance?”

Willow winced, so she knew of Aunt Jieun’s spirit. She supposed that made sense since she was a close friend of her mother even when she had lived with her family. Of course they would’ve been aware of any spirits she had bound to her at the time.

The girl nodded. “Both of Aunt Jieun’s spirits were killed by a demonic beast king, Calypso was born shortly after, and I bound them soon after that.”

Thea’s brows knit together. “They look far too developed to be a newly born spirit, even if you’ve had them for years.”

Miss Mu cleared her throat. “That’s actually part of why we’re here, Thea. Your grandchild’s path is a tad more… complicated than most and I was hopin’ to count on your assistance in teachin’ the girly.”

Willow’s grandmother shot her mentor a glare. “What do you mean by ‘complicated’? Are you using my grandchild in some deranged experiment?”

Miss Mu held up her hands. “She was already on her path when I met her, I’m just helping to guide her as best I can. Willow, can you help me out here?”

The girl nodded and brought out most of her friends sans Harmony and Change since she felt that would be a whole other explanation in its own right.

She also decided to try and explain herself before her grandmother got upset like her aunt had. “Before you get upset, my core is perfectly stable and there’s no chance of my spirits eating each other. They’re balanced and transferring energy between themselves to speed up their growth.”

Grandma Thea froze, looking between the group of spirits and her grandchild.

“Well this is certainly… unorthodox.” She then continued to stare at the spirits as she continued to think about the implications of all of them being bound to one person.

And then she nodded to herself.

“These spirits are all young aren’t they? Meaning they’re unlikely to be able to properly teach you the capabilities of their respective elements. Which also means that you’ve probably come to me for lessons on how to utilize earth qi?”

As Willow smiled and nodded, her grandmother’s face fell and a wave of sadness washed over her core.

“That means my daughter is almost definitely dead, isn’t she?”