25: Calla
After escorting the woman from the demon encampment, Eliza was tumbling through the forest with the woman who looked just like her in her arms. However, it was only now that Eliza realized something.
She was princess carrying a random woman she just met for the first time.
The woman stayed silent for the most part… But feeling the body heat coming from her back was enough for Eliza to be embarrassed, even if the woman was silent.
But she knew it wasn’t the time for that. It was the time to run.
It took less than an hour for Eliza to run from the demonic forest to The Shelf, even if it would take longer for most other people. Her running speed would have been even faster, if not for carrying an entire extra person while moving.
But before long, Eliza had made it to the outer gate of The Shelf.
And truthfully, she wanted nothing more than to drop this woman here and now.
Not because of any worry about the woman’s identity, but…
‘My arms fucking hurt!’ Eliza whined to herself in her head.
Carrying a woman for over an hour had made her arms incredibly sore, even for a sword expert who had the physical strength to carry a zweihander with one hand.
Her physical body was like it was magically reinforced, leading to her being incredibly strong among her peers… However, it wasn’t enough.
The zweihander she used was only 11 pounds, as compared to this woman who seemed to be at least 80 pounds.
She looked down at the woman, who had a strange expression of awe on her face and decided to suck it up and carry her to the adventurer’s guild.
It took time, but before long she had made her way there. She clearly felt the stares of people looking at her along the way.
It was probably quite the spectacle, seeing a woman carry her near identical twin in a princess carry.
Finally, at the guild, Eliza sat in Grant’s office with the woman who was now sitting in a chair, wrapped up in a blanket.
Grant simply looked at the woman, then back at Eliza, and then repeated.
“Even now that I’m seeing it with my own eyes… You two truly look like twins.”
And moreover… He was simply stunned that Eliza actually succeeded. Grant even felt that he would be unable to do the same thing, based on what they knew of the demons.
He smiled gently.
Eliza already was close to becoming a swordsmaster. Probably one that would be stronger than him, even.
“H-Hello…” the woman said nervously.
Eliza felt reassured somehow by her nervousness. If she hadn’t showed at least some reaction after what she had gone through, it would be weird. Though, her reaction still felt weird, it was better than nothing.
The talks went quickly. Grant asked several questions about why the woman was kidnapped, but each time she shook her head, or repeated things such as “I-I really don’t know!”
Grant thought that there was something that the woman wasn’t letting on, but he let her go with Eliza. After all, it was Eliza who rescued the woman. It wasn’t his place to judge. He had the union to take care of, after all. He couldn’t waste time on every little thing.
Back at the Honeyed Bee inn, Eliza brought the woman to her room. Lily was already awake and playing downstairs with Mary, and the two were talking about magic.
It was enough of a distraction for Eliza to be able to speak to this woman. After all, if she was going to reveal some big secret about Eliza’s past…
She didn’t want anyone to hear.
As well… The woman seemed to understand this. Instead of her nervous act from before with Grant… once she entered the private location, her body relaxed, and began to emit a haughty mature aura. It was clear whatever act she had up was gone.
“Who… are you?” Eliza asked tentatively. “I mean… Um, what’s your name?” she asked. She knew she was being awkward, but… It was almost like finding your identical twin out in the wild.
“I’m… Well, I’ll just say you know me.”
Eliza was a bit annoyed at her words.
“What do you mean…? I’ve never met you before.” She said, trying to gently explain.
“No.” The woman responded coldly. “You have.”
Eliza tried thinking back… But who in the world could she be?
“Who… exactly are you?” Eliza asked.
The woman smiled.
“Who do you think I am?”
‘Damnit, why are you asking me?!’ Eliza thought. ‘If I knew who you were, would I need to ask in the first place? But… since she asked, she’s probably related to my… No, the life of the woman who used to be Eliza.
“Are you… related to me?”
“Oh? No, I don’t think I am.”
Eliza paused.
“I’m sorry… But I… I don’t quite know who you are… Could you, uh, not be quite so cryptic?”
“Oh?” The woman said with a pouty face. “And here I thought I should be very familiar to you.”
Eliza tried remembering. There was nothing at all.
Or was there?
She thought further back.
To even before she was Eliza.
Subtly, the image of the woman in front of her began to overlap… overlap with the face of a woman she had forgotten about.
The face of a woman… who looked exactly like her.
Eliza felt her heart beat fast. And then faster.
Goosebumps ran down her arm.
“Are you… her?” Eliza asked, a bit scared.
The woman smiled.
“I don’t know… Who exactly is she? I might be. Or I might not.”
Eliza gulped. She was about to say something, worried that she would be right.
And if she was overheard saying this…
“Are you… the person who sent me to this world? Are you Lily’s mother?”
The woman simply smiled.
And then she nodded.
“Yes. I’m the one who brought you here… And I have another thing to tell you.” She said, dragging the point out.
After a moment, she cleared her throat.
“I was never actually in any danger. The demons weren’t a threat to me.”
Eliza paused.
That… Actually felt really obvious. In both hindsight, and when she was thinking about it before.
“I… see. That makes sense. They never actually attacked humans unless they were attacked first, right? Then… They probably wouldn’t randomly kidnap a woman… Wait, how did you convince them to kidnap you, then?”
The woman smiled.
“Well… Just imagine demons as the protectors of the world. They’re like white blood cells, killing bacteria. Their power has to come from somewhere, right?”
Eliza nodded.
“So… That’s your power, then. Time and space. And the demons… leap through space.”
Eliza knew she was taking this far too calmly. But she also knew panicking wouldn’t help her. At all.
And moreover…
In her mind, Eliza wanted to ask why the god in front of her abandoned Lily.
Why she ignored her daughter, why she didn’t help her, why she paid a stranger to take care of Lily in her place, and more.
“Why? Why is it that you… ignored Lily for so long? She loved you.” Eliza bluntly asked.
“I made an unbreakable deal.” The goddess said calmly.
“A deal? What kind of deal could you have that could possibly make you ignore Lily?! She genuinely loved and cared about you, and now she-”
“I’m sorry.” The goddess said, interrupting Eliza. “I can’t tell you.”
Awkward silence filled the air. Eliza wanted to complain more, but… what was the point? What could she do now. The room remained quiet for a few minutes, neither breaking the tension. Calla may have been callous, but she wasn’t a complete fool.
“You’d better actually be in her life from now on.” Eliza murmured.
At that, the goddess laughed, as if she was genuinely entertained by what Eliza had just said…
But beyond that, the silence continued.
“I’ll stay here. At least until Lily becomes an adult.” The goddess said, interrupting the silence.
Eliza nodded.
“Yeah that’s good… uh, okay, who even are you anyways? What’s your name? I can’t keep calling you ‘this woman’ or ‘the goddess’ in my mind. It’s weird.” Eliza said, feeling a little strange about the entire situation.
“Well… They used to call me Eliza. But I don’t imagine I can still be called that, can I?”
Eliza remembered… Her body was previously the goddesses…
“Any other name? Based on what you told me, you were probably mortal too once, right?”
The goddess shook her head.
Eliza sighed.
“I’m calling you Calla, then. Since you’re Lily’s mother… And because of the Calla Lily.” Eliza said, annoyed at this woman in front of her.
At that point, the goddess, now Calla, laughed.
“Really? Are you that unoriginal?”
Eliza was a bit annoyed at her for her words.
“And you’re that much of a bitch, daughter deserter.”
Calla laughed at Eliza’s words, not actually taking them to heart.
“Alright, alright. It’s fine. Calla it is. So… What are you going to do?”
Eliza thought about it for a moment. Then, she nodded.
“I’m going to go introduce you to them all. If you’re going to be spending time with Lily from now on, then you’ll at least need to know my friends and family.”
“Oh? Introducing me? That’s interesting… Alright, I’ll go along with it.” Calla said smugly.
As if she was truly in charge of the situation…
Eliza frowned, because she realized that Calla probably was.
Downstairs, Eliza had brought Calla to most of the people she was close to. After all, except for Rin and Grant, the people she knew mostly lived in the same building.
Of course, Mary and Lily weren’t there. Those two girls were inseparable, and Eliza felt like she’d need to introduce Calla to Lily on her own later.
“Hello, Olivia. Lucas. Sorin. This is Calla. She’s my-” Eliza spoke, but was interrupted when Calla suddenly pulled her into a hug from the side.
“I’m her wife! It’s nice to meet you all!”
Eliza coughed twice at Calla’s words. Unfortunately, Eliza had to clear her throat from the shock, so Olivia was able to speak up excitedly first.
“Yer’ her wife? Nice ta’ meet ya! The name’s Olivia, I’m the owner of this inn here that Eliza’s been stayin’ at fer’ a couple years now! Great to meet ya, Calla!”
“Wife?!” Eliza shouted, looking at Calla with an appalled expression.
Theodore, who was in the room looked incredibly awkward at the words, but didn’t feel like he could speak up.
“Of course!” Calla said happily. “Now that we’re no longer in that damned kingdom, we can finally get married!”
Eliza paused.
‘Does she know of everything that’s happened to me? How long has she been watching me? Since the very beginning?’ she wondered.
Eliza sighed.
Even though she may be a goddess…
“Damnit, you completely suck at acting, Calla.” Eliza said loudly.
At that moment, everyone turned to look at her with a surprised expression.
“Look, Calla, at times like this, even if you can’t tell the entire truth, it’s much better to be honest. Saying stuff like that…”
At that point, Calla grinned. Then, she reached over and hugged Eliza even tighter than before.
“Oh? But I am being honest. I really do want to marry you, Eliza.”
Eliza blushed. Even though she almost certainly was lying, when Calla said that with a straight face… It felt hard to say anything.
“Then…” Theodore spoke up. “If she’s not your wife, then what is she to you?”
Eliza genuinely tried to come up with a simple way to say it, but…
“Um…” She blushed. “She’s… Lily’s other mom.”
Most people were silent at that revelation… Except for one.
Sorin was laughing.
In fact, he was laughing so heartily at Eliza’s words that it was clear he found it funny.
“Oh, kid, trust me, I understand. Relationships are complicated sometimes. I get it, I get it.”
Olivia’s face scrunched as she scowled at Sorin’s words.
“Gramps, ya’ gotta act with more tact sometimes, ya’ hear me? You cheatin’ on Gamma when you were younger ain’t the same as… this situation, yeah?!”
Eliza coughed again. Somehow… she could imagine Sorin doing just that.
Of all people, Lucas was the one to speak up and ask the first question.
“How did you two…” He asked, looking down to the floor. “Sorry. I don’t think I should finish that question.”
Eliza blushed, mostly because she knew exactly what Lucas was going to ask. He was planning to ask how they had Lily.
Calla seemed to grin at this, sensing a moment to poke fun at Eliza.
“Oh, that’s easy! Past a little bit of fun with magic, she just had to sit around for a long time waiting for me!”
Eliza’s blush faded away. Calla was so, utterly, completely childlike that it completely removed any of the tension she felt.
“Waiting on you when Lily almost died…? Waiting on you wouldn’t have done shit.” she murmured.
Sorin, sensing the situation was growing tense just from that alone, quickly pulled Eliza away.
“Hey, Eliza. I can tell that you’re tense, but… trust me. When you reach my age, you’d wish you had the opportunity to reconnect with people like Calla. Tie up loose ends and things, get everything off your chest. I think it might be a good idea to just… tell her how you feel. Okay? How about we just give you some quality time to catch up? I think it’d be good for both you and Lily to catch up with little Calla there, okay?” Sorin interjected.
Eliza’s face contorted. She really…. Somehow just purely didn’t like Calla. It wasn’t a hatred dislike, but… She was callous and disregarding of Eliza’s opinions, and even though she was Lily’s real mom, she ditched Lily for nearly half her life already. Those alone were annoying, and yet she had the audacity to suggest that she was actually romantically interested in Eliza in front of the group?
Eliza already had had such poor luck with dating that she had given up, so it felt like a personal insult to her romantic life to hear that alone.
But Eliza relented.
“Fine… I’ll do just that…”
Then, Eliza looked at Sorin, who seemed… Tired. Exhausted, even. Yet he was still acting chipper in front of his family.
Before she went back to the group…
“Thank you, Sorin.” Eliza said wholeheartedly.
Sorin simply laughed at her words.
“Go on up, and I’ll send her after you. I know it’ll be hard to get your words out at first, but it’ll help once you really do.”
Eliza nodded, and went upstairs.
Countless questions and ideas about what to ask Calla ran through her mind. Why did she abandon Lily? She said she had a deal or something? What deal is worth more than a daughter?
Back up in her room at the inn, Eliza realized just how much of a brat this goddess was.
Eliza previously felt like this would be some fate defining moment for her, where her entire world changed because of elements out of her control. But now, she simply felt like she had yet another child to take care of.
The two talked, where Eliza learned a bit about Calla. She was, of course, the goddess of time and space, and is the very reason why the demons are able to leap through space.
She had simply given them a portion of her power. They were apparently specifically designed to be the peacekeepers of the world of Atlan.
And thus, the gods weren’t worried about their lifespans or anything else degrading from their powers being embedded through them. They were powerful enough to not suffer side effects, like if a god were to give power to a human.
But then, while blabbing about demons, Calla accidentally let something slip…
“And that’s why I had the demons disorient you whenever you did something I disliked!” she said carelessly.
And then, Eliza remembered something. All of those weird experiences when she was on dates with women, getting lost, losing track of time… They were her?
“Wait, you actually stopped me from going on dates? What’s wrong with you? Why can’t I go on dates?”
“No, I mean… I just simply… kept certain women away from you. I mean, your priority was supposed to be Lily, not random women I’ve not approved of.” Calla said with her face showing her being completely unbothered by the situation.
Eliza was annoyed. Her bad luck with dates was Calla’s fault all of this time?
“You’ve been stalking me? Some of those women I felt like I could have seen myself marrying them! Why would you do that?”
Calla grinned.
“Oh, it’s not stalking… not if I can see everyone on Atlan at once.”
Eliza looked at Calla cautiously.
“Everyone?” she asked, a bit worried.
“Oh, not right now. Just like I couldn’t when I was in that body, I can’t see everyone right now now that I’m in this body that I’ve made. Just like I couldn’t when I was in yours.”
Eliza frowned.
“Why? Why did you come here only now? Lily would have liked having you around. So why is it that you waited til now? You made a new body? Why?”
Calla frowned too, finally looking at Eliza seriously.
“Alright. I guess the fun’s over…”
With a sigh, Calla began speaking up.
“Eliza, your body is that of a god’s. Unfortunately for you… That’s not a good thing.”
Eliza, upon hearing those words, frowned.
Whatever she was about to hear… probably was going to change her life. Not for the better.
