Birds’ chirping echoed loudly as the early morning clouds stretched across the skies of Bastion City.
Leaves drifted from the Storm Mansion’s fig tree and landed softly on the sill of the open window of Li i’s room.
Inside her room, countless threads of many colors lined up against her wall at her bedside, waiting to be woven to life. They bounced on the walls like dancing souls as warm air flew from her open door and filled the room.
The hallway outside the room was drenched with peace and love as everyone in the mansion remained in their beds sleeping.
At the base of the wheelchair ramp, Lily stood brushing the backs of her hands against her eyes. "Mom, I’m going back to my room to rest a little."
Her voice was soft, but her footsteps ca in loudly as she began climbing the stairs toward her room.
In the kitchen, water trickled in a slow rhythm, while the scent of the vegetable stew spun upward, gracing the utensils arranged as if they were ever ready for a fight.
’Andrew,’ Li i said in her head while the mixture of red cloth with gold hems at its sides continuously elongated on her lap. ’Your son needs you.’
As the morning sun stretched across the skies and shone its rays on the mansion, a faint smile tore onto Li i’s lips as her breath began to calm.
Min-seo began humming as she slowly descended the stairs to the kitchen.
"Row, row, row your boat," she sang while her fingers slowly brushed the staircase’s bars. "Gently down the stream."
"Min-seo," Li i called out the mont the voice reached the sitting room’s door.
"Yes, Li i?" Min-seo responded, then lowered her voice as she changed her direction toward the sitting room.
She crouched down to Li i and held her arms. "You called ."
Li i’s arms raised while Min-seo slowly guided them to her face, then smiled. "Where did you learn to sing that song?"
Min-seo’s cheeks raised with joy. "The first day I heard you singing it in your room."
A smile tore onto Li i’s face, while Min-seo slowly guided her hands back to pick up the two needles.
"Madam, sorry, Li i," Min-seo said as she watched Li i weave faster than a normal human can. "How do you get this done so fast?"
"Practice, Min-seo, practice," Li i said while her hands slowed down.
Min-seo stood there for a mont and watched how the needles passed through with the red and gold thread weaving through in separate directions.
Li i’s hands paused for a second ti, then she tilted her sightless gaze toward where the breathing echoed from. "Were you going to the kitchen?"
"Yes, Li i," Min-seo said and tilted back toward the sitting room door’s direction. "I just wanted to make sure the flas of the stove were ready for breakfast."
"They will be ready when you go there," Li i said and loosened her grip on the needle in her left hand, then stretched it forward. "Co sit with ."
Min-seo stood there and watched the door for a mont before crouching down beside Li i.
Li i listened to the heartbeat of Min-seo, then began weaving the cloth with its style, while a faint smile tore onto her lips.
’How is she doing it?’ Min-seo said in her head when she saw the new patterns appearing like they were already arranged to appear at that specific ti. ’My mom couldn’t even weave this fast.’
"Li i," Min-seo said and placed her left palm on Li i’s lap. "I still have bowls to wash."
"The bowls were washed last night by Zoe," Li i said without needing to pause. "Sit down, child."
Min-seo’s head snapped back as she tilted her gaze toward the staircase, as if waiting for Zoe to question her. ’Why would she wash them? I guess I have no other way to head to the kitchen than to watch her weave this marvelous cloth to life.’
As silence flew between them, Li i’s hands moved through, while the threads slowly srized the abundant love of her heart.
Min-seo’s heartbeat hitched for a second when her phone rang with a ssage from soone she knew nothing of.
"Is it about Leon?" Li i asked without needing to wait for the clicking tone to end.
’How did she know?’ Min-seo said in her head while her eyes widened when she saw Leon’s na as the first word the ssage carried. She glanced at Li i, then back at the screen of her phone.
"I," Min-seo said and paused as her voice trailed off while her fingers slowly tightened around the phone. "It’s a ssage from an unknown number, Li i. But it starts with his na."
Li i’s hands slowed down as she shifted her sightless gaze to Min-seo. "Read it to , child."
Min-seo swallowed hard as she shifted glances at the ssage and Li i for the second ti.
"It says," she said and paused while her brow slowly tightened. "Leon has agreed to go back."
’This boy,’ Li i said and shook her head once. ’Stubborn as his father.’
Min-seo shifted her gaze to Li i, then lowered her chin. "Li i, do you know where he has agreed to go?"
"I don’t, but," Li i said, while slowly shifting her sightless gaze to the window, as if wanting to watch how the sun was slowly rising in the sky. "Wherever he’s agreed to go is not a place of peace."
The mont Min-seo shifted her gaze back to the ssage, her heart sank. ’Tartarus!’
"Li i, the ssage says he has accepted to go back to Tartarus," Min-seo said in a hasty voice while her breathing rhythm increased.
’Wait, Tartarus,’ Min-seo said in her head while her eyes grew larger in their sockets. ’The place the fallen gods were abandoned at!’
"Li i, are you not afraid he’s going to a place like that?" she asked while sweat trailed thin lines on her forehead.
Li i sighed, then shook her head. "You said the ssage said he has agreed to go there again, right?"
"Yes, Li i, that’s exactly what it states," Min-seo said as she shifted her gaze fully to the screen of her phone.
"Then there is nothing to fear," Li i said while she lowered her hands while the finished edges of the cloth breathed on her lap. "I have been afraid since the morning he took his first breath and sounded exactly like his father when he cried."
She raised the needle with the golden thread, then raised it toward the rays of the sun where her sightless gaze was, then smiled. "He’s ready for it. I can feel it."
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