Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

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"How strange, we've been diverted," Maldoa felt confused.

"What happened?" Goldmi asked, looking around.

They were at a Source or Origin, but she didn't know which one. However, if her friend said they had been diverted, it had to be true.

"I'm not sure, we should've arrived at another Source, but... Wait... This Origin... Mom!" the drelf realized.

"Heh, heh. You didn't take long," a voice was heard.

"Why did you bring us here!?" Maldoa asked suspiciously.

"Can't I invite my dear daughter? You never come to see me..." the dryad complained, pouting and hugging her daughter.

"Mom..." she complained weakly, somewhat embarrassed.

"They're waiting for you outside. I made them come. Go, I know you're anxious. Another day, come see me with my daughter," she asked them as she opened the exit for them.

"Thanks mom, see you another day," the drelf wanted to say goodbye, but her mother didn't let her go.

"Them. Not you. I want my dose of Maldoa," the dryad continued to hug her, not wanting to let her go.

"Sigh... See you soon. It's impossible when she gets like this," her daughter resigned herself to being pampered.

"Thank you for bringing them. Thank you for everything, Maldoa. Come home to see us. The girls will miss you," Goldmi invited her.

"Ah, girls... I want some too. When will you give me grandchildren?" the dryad asked.

"Mom..." Maldoa complained with resignation.

Gjaki and Eldi also said goodbye and thanked, and even Goldmi's three sisters. The elf left some food, including some plates that her friend had asked for her mother days ago.

"Did you ask them for me!? Sometimes you remember your mother!" the dryad was excited when she saw them.

"Let me go now and let's eat. Dad, help me," she asked the elf who she knew was hiding a little further away.

"You know how she is. She's been very worried. She won't let you go for hours. You'd better resign yourself," he smiled, and came out from behind a bush.

"Really... I'm sorry for worrying you..." she then kissed her mother on the cheek.

Her mother hugged her tighter, and began to cry. She had really been very worried about her daughter.

Maldoa smiled and hugged her. Sometimes, her mother was a bit annoying, but she knew that the dryad cared about her, that she loved her very much. Although sometimes it was difficult and embarrassing to admit it, she wouldn't change her for any other mother in the world.

Her hug was very warm, it was really comforting. She had also missed her, as annoying as she was.

Goldmi hugged and kissed Elendnas effusively, while Gjaki did the same with Chornakish. Then, the vampiress hugged the other members of the mansion, starting with her mother.

Eldi was also greeted with hugs, with his children being the most effusive. They wanted him to tell them everything, but they knew their father had something else in mind.

"Go ask. We'll be here for a few days, we have some business with Mideltya's parents. If you have time, come by," Lidia said goodbye.

"Don't worry about us, dad, we're grown up now. But you owe us, you have to explain everything to us," Liodon demanded.

"Of course," he hugged them once more.

He said goodbye to them, to his grandson, to Mideltya, and to everyone else who was still around. After that, the high human opened a Gate and went to the Beginner's Village. He didn't know if the Oracle would be there, but he would wait for them if not. Eldi might not get an answer, but he had to at least try.

When Goldmi and Elendnas knocked on the door of Elenksia's house, Elendnas' sister, it was Klimsal who opened it. She looked at them for a few moments, surprised, her eyes wide.

"You're back! We were very worried about you all, until they told us the other day that you were fine!" she hugged them one after the other. "Come in, come in!"

They followed her in, somewhat anxious. It had been too long since they had seen them.

"My dear, who was it?" Elenksia asked.

"Aunt Klimsal! Look what I drew! Aah! Mom! Dad!" Gjami exclaimed.

"Mom? Dad? They're back!" her sister then turned around.

The two of them stood up and ran to their parents, who hugged them affectionately. They lifted them up and kissed their soft cheeks, while the girls laughed.

"Welcome," Elenksia greeted them, smiling.

"Thank you for taking care of them, Elenk," Goldmi thanked her.

"Huh? Are you going to take them? So soon? Leave them a few more days!" Elendnas' sister joked.

"Are you going to leave again?" Eldmi almost started crying when she heard her aunt.

"Don't go!" her sister asked.

"You see what you've done," Elendnas complained as her sister looked away.

"We're not leaving without you. Besides, my sisters have missed you too. They're waiting outside," her mother reassured them.

"Ah! Let's go see them!"

"That's it! Let's go!"

The two of them ran outside, where the lynx, the goshawk and the kraken were waiting, the latter on top of the former.

As soon as they came out, Elenksia jumped on her sister-in-law and brother, hugging them and bursting into tears. She had restrained herself in front of the girls.

"You really are fine... Sniff... I was so worried..."

"You've always been a crybaby" her brother criticized her sweetly. He was stroking her hair, while Klimsal looked on with a sweet smile, her eyes slightly moist.

"I'm sorry to have worried you. Now that the girls are gone, we have something for you," Goldmi revealed.

Elendnas had asked Melingor, Lidia's husband, about it, and had made some inquiries. He was famous himself, and they had learned that his wife was one of the heroes. Thanks to that, he hadn't only obtained the information he needed, but they had rushed to give him what he had wanted to gift his sister since long time ago.

"A gift? What's it?" Elenksia asked. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and looking at her like a little girl, expectant.

Not only her, but also Klimsal opened her eyes wide to see what she was giving them. It was just a symbol engraved on a wooden circle, but Elenksia took it with trembling hands.

"How? When?" she asked, excited, her voice shaking.

"That's what it happens when you have a famous wife. Many doors open for you," her brother laughed.

"I... I don't know how to thank you. Take it, dear, you've always wanted it," she offered it to Klimsal.

"I... No... You too... Take it yourself," she rejected it.

"No way. You always give me everything. Let me do something for you this time," Elenksia insisted.

"But..." her partner wanted to argue.

"Elend, don't be mean," Goldmi scolded him.

"Okay, okay. But it's so touching to see my sister so generous," Elendnas mocked, and showed another token. "I have more."

Her sister ignored her brother's attitude. She simply hugged him, and cried again. That was the gift she had always wanted, the one she and Klimsal had wanted.