I'm the Mother of the Heroine? (Book 1)

Chapter 60

A/N: I've come to the conclusion that sometime in the next ten chapters we will be having a time skip. This is just a warning or 'heads up' in case it throws anyone. It's not because there isn't anything to write about but the ages that the characters are right now .. aren't ideal. There may be things that seem left unsaid or unfinished but I assure you that I'll be doing a 'recap' on any information you may need while the timeskip flows on. This won't be happening just yet but I still decided to make you aware of it beforehand. :) 

Vincent: (Note: When he's feeding or taps into the Emoreiken power his eyes turn yellow with snake slits for pupils. This is just a reminder on that bit of information.) 

I could feel. That's the first thing that rushed through me after feeding on that foul man. I chuckled softly as I stared at my hands. Why hadn't I done this sooner?

My mind flickered over the past conversations I've had with Nathaniel and Lily; I couldn't help the hysterical laugh that left my lips. Oh, poor Nathaniel. If I were him, I'd have already killed myself with how irritating I was. Nathaniel had more patience than I, it would seem. 

I licked my lips as I recalled information that I had read about in the books. Before it had seemed dull and informative but now I could absorb everything with understanding. It's difficult to understand the feelings behind an action unless you have feelings in the first place. 

An Emoreiken, huh? Well, that makes sense. I can already feel the difference between how I was and how I am now. 

I'd just stepped out of the secret room leading to the Shadow Array and walked down the hall when Lily seemed to materialize out of nowhere. 

"Vincent! Are you okay," she ran towards me and begun to pull me in different directions as she looked me over. 

What's this warm feeling? I looked down at my chest because of the odd heat forming there but didn't see anything. My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. 

"I was told that Taki threw you over his shoulder and ran off with you. When I went to look for you, you were gone. So was Damon and Taki, so I couldn't ask them where you were. They didn't do anything weird to you, right?"

I looked up at Lily and noticed a strange red streak in her hair and weren't her eyes a different color before? 

"I'm fine, Lily," I gave her a small smile, "Taki was just worried about my eating habits."

"Oh," she dropped her hands and blushed at her actions, "Are you sure you're okay? You seem a bit different.."

"Honestly, I'm okay. Where's Nathaniel?"

Lily looked at me with a shocked look before clicking her mouth shut and narrowing her eyes at me in contemplation. It smoothed out and she gave me another smile before smoothing my hair back. 

"Nathaniel has been working himself sick in the Training Room. Maybe you can persuade him to take a rest. Last time he took one was when you were in the room with him."

I nodded my head in reassurance. 

"I'm going to be in the Garden so if anything happens you can find me there. Oh, if you have the time can you try and maybe talk to Helena? She seems to be ignoring me at the moment," her voice trailed off as she bit her lower lip. 

I could see the anxiety and sadness wriggling out of her skin but it didn't make me hungry. There wasn't anything that was stopping me from eating but I just couldn't see Lily as food. 

"Okay. Go to your Garden and heal." Even if she didn't seem sick I could sense the pain alongside the other emotions. She was still injured from the time Helena harmed her. 

Thinking about it now, I could understand why Nathaniel and Damon were upset with the little girl. She'd damaged Lily and didn't even take responsibility. Instead she tried to harm her mentally with her childishness.

Ever since I arrived here Lily has been loving and compassionate; it was also surprising how patient she was with me. She was the one person who didn't deserve disrespect or harm. Yet Helena didn't appreciate her mother. If I had a mom like Lily I wouldn't ever try to hurt her emotionally or physically. 

I left Lily and walked towards the Training Room. On my way I passed by Helena's room and saw her festering  in her emotions. They were disgusting and made me lose my appetite. How could someone so young be that angry? It wasn't even the anger that made me sick to my stomach but the thought that it was aimed at Lily. 

Bypassing the slightly cracked door, I finally arrived at the room where Nathaniel trained. Surprisingly he wasn't alone. I'd forgotten about Leo. 

"The silent one has returned!" 

Leo's voice penetrated through Nathaniel's concentrated movements and made him stumble. He turned to look at me and I raised an eyebrow. 

"Where'd you go," he asked as he wiped a forearm across his forehead. His hair was pulled back in a braid to keep it from his face. 

"Taki took me on a job," I responded back but made sure that he understood it would be best to not ask further since Leo was also listening. 

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes at me before shrugging a shoulder. 

"Why wasn't I invited," he tried to sound nonchalant but I could see that he was slightly hurt. Why was he hurt though?

"It was something personal. I'll tell you later."

Leo watched us from the side and gave a mischievous smirk before asking, "What happened to being silent and observant? Were you playing with me the entire time?"

Nathaniel seemed to realize that as well but I gave him a look as if saying 'we will talk about it later'. I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly back at Leo. 

"And? Does it concern you how I present myself?"

"Not at all. Although, it is concerning if you try to steal the ladies from me," he begun to flex his lithe muscles of his upper arms, "They just can't keep their hands off me though. I'm sure there's no competition what so ever."

"Not interested," I responded before walking to the bench and sitting down. The book I had been previously reading was set on it even though I knew it had fallen to the floor when Taki ran off with me. 

Nathaniel and Leo went back to training from what I could discern out of the corner of my eye so I ignored them. Instead I looked into myself, at my core, to see the difference. Demons and Emoreiken are similar in the fact that instead of relying on Stars and Markings they have a core. Very similar to a Magical Beast's Core and therefore they were hunted down and had their cores used in weapons and armor. 

Our Core is where the Demonic Energy is stored. Mine was currently spinning slowly as it slowly devoured the Emotions I ate earlier. At the rate it was feeding it would take a couple weeks until it was fully incorporated and spun into new Demonic Energy. 

I let out a sigh. It would seem that there's no way to speed the process up.