VoC: B1 — 5. A Mother's Gift
Added 2025-06-18 22:55:46 +0000 UTCPoV:
1. Damon (Our New 24-Year-Old MC!)
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“It’s Mom?!” Aria repeated, voice cracking with emotion. “We get to see Mom. C’mon! Let’s go, Damon!”
Like I said, we go, but let’s be smart.
Damon remained cautious, rolling around his neck and glancing at the corrupt man pocketing the coins. “How do I know this isn’t a trap?”
The woman’s lips quirked while looking up at him. “Very astute, Master Damon. Your mother will be shocked by your appearance. She said to tell you she’s still sorry she never found anything that could help Aria taste food again. Everything still tastes like ash to her, and that is a blow to her heart.”
“Okay, I take it back. It’s Mom, Damon!” Aria practically screamed in his head. “No one else knows about that! She spent months with me trying different recipes, hoping I could taste something! While you were still getting your memories, I got some of mine a bit earlier—like, months earlier. Lich, genius, and all. Let’s go!”
Damon nodded and followed the maid through a series of service corridors, feeling the twist in his gut at that seemingly minor detail. There was more to consider than just seeing their mother. He drew his internal thoughts away so she didn’t hear them.
It sounds like Aria’s really become attached to our new mom. Even though she wasn’t technically born with me, our mom adopted Aria into our family… How much has she sacrificed for us? Aria blacked out the memories of our parents on Earth after their accident. She was only nine. There’s so much to process, but it’s simple. Keep my family safe.
They descended two flights of stairs before reaching a nondescript door. Inside was a small storage room where a woman waited in the shadows. He slowed to a stop in shock as she finally came into view, pulling his soul into a chokehold.
“Damon,” she breathed, stepping forward. “Wow. You really have grown handsome. If my sisters heard me, they’d faint.”
Princess Catelyn Rhommo du Mentris no longer looked like royalty. Simple servant’s attire had replaced her once-elaborate gowns, and her long black hair was tied back in a practical bun. But her violet eyes—the mark of the royal bloodline—still shone with the same love and intelligence Damon remembered. Even in disgrace, she carried herself with the quiet dignity of her noble birth.
“Mother,” Damon whispered, memories of their time together becoming clearer by the moment. Ten years of being raised by this woman flooded back, overlapping with his memories of his parents from his previous life.
Catelyn rushed forward, small in his tall, muscular frame, yet her thin arms were like a vise around his core. “My sweet boy.” She pulled back to examine him, her eyes taking in his true form. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted you to be exposed like this… Oh, and maybe you see me…differently, now that your memories are returned. That’s okay!”
She swiftly retreated a step, hands clasping at her front. “It’s absolutely okay… All of this has been challenging, I know. No, I can only imagine…”
“No, Mom. It’s okay,” Damon assured her, examining his stunningly beautiful mother and realizing something truly barbaric that gripped at his soul: the age at which she gave birth to him. “I understand why you had to hide who I was.”
Aria… Our mother is twenty-four—the same age as I was, which means… When she had me… How did she have me?
“No, I know. It’s super sus, but she always skirted that topic,” Aria mumbled. “I’ve seen bite marks on her neck, though, which is why she usually keeps it covered… I think it probably has something to do with that. You heard them talk about dhampirs, too. I think it was some kind of evil ritual by a dark elf, probably. Titania just juked the villains and put you in before they could get their reincarnate in.”
The information made his fingers curl into a fist, thinking about his thirteen-year-old mother, exposed to that, and instead of shunning or getting rid of him, instead welcomed him in.
If so, thank Titania. We’ll have to ask her instead of Mom…because I don’t want her to relive any of that.
“Aria?” Catelyn asked with a short chuckle and smile, snapping both of them out of their internal reverie as her searching eyes sought for the amulet around his neck before locking with his eyes. “I can always tell when you’re talking to one another because you get that crinkle in your nose, Damon. I know she can be a handful in the most adorable way. Are you there, darling?”
“Mom!” Aria’s mental voice broke. “I missed you so much! These lawful guards suck! You should come with us… You have to come with us.”
“She says she missed you,” Damon translated, surprised by the emotion welling in his own chest at this small, yet totally grounded mother; she truly carried herself like a princess.
Catelyn wiped a tear from her eye. “I need to see her. Just once before you go.”
Damon’s brow furrowed, not quite following as he looked to the maid, who nodded. “We can risk it. But briefly.”
Aria, I’m guessing this has something to do with me being a Sage Unity Tamer? I saw it for a moment. How do I share Feats with you? Damon asked.
“Uh, look in the menu,” she snickered, practically rolling her eyes. “There’s got to be a way to assign me Feats or something as your ‘tamed creature.’ C’mon. Hurry! I don’t want to waste a second.”
Hey, I’m patient with you, so chill…
“Sorry. Just getting anxious. I want to hug her!”
Damon desired for the menu to open, and it did. Scrolling down and pressing the right tab, he focused on the [Humanoid Transformation] Feat that came with the bracelet. He felt a slight tingle as the ability transferred to Aria.
[Tamer’s Bond - Feat Share: Activated]
[1 of 2 Shareable Feat Slots in Use]
“Got it! Now take off the amulet and turn around,” Aria instructed. “No peeking!”
Why would I want to peek, Aria?
“To embarrass me, I don’t know! Just don’t!”
Damon removed the necklace with a sigh and shake of his head before turning his back. A moment later, he heard his mother gasp.
“Oh, Aria! I had Stephen buy something for you,” Catelyn said. “Some dresses; we didn’t know what you’d like. And, uh, seeing your brother here, I think only one will fit; goodness knows nothing we got for Damon will…”
“Mom…”
“I’m fine. I’ll figure something out,” he mumbled. “Thanks for doing this for Aria.”
“You are my children!”
He heard Aria step behind the boxes to slip it on. Damon stared at the transformation Feat, something his mother or Stephen had probably guided him to do as a child.
Watching the excited sparkle in his mother’s eyes, he couldn’t help but feel the weight of what she’d carried for them. And she could still smile like this, despite everything that was happening to her. It only glowed brighter the moment her daughter exited from behind the boxes.
Catelyn rushed to embrace her. Aria melted into the hug, her body shaking with silent sobs, and bringing Damon’s smile back as he observed the two young women.
“You’re even more beautiful than I’d hoped!”
“Mom!”
The maid’s lips tilted upward as Damon shifted uncomfortably, glancing at her before turning away to look at her status sheet. His ‘bonded creatures’ tab told him all he needed to know—she was a sun elf Wizard, with some rather insane Feats. Her subclass immediately snatched his attention: Chronomancer.
When she exited, he glanced over his shoulder, seeing his sister in a new light as she showed off a simple but well-made gown—something between what a commoner might wear for special occasions and a craftsman’s daughter’s everyday attire.
Wrapped in their mother’s arms, he got his first look at his sister’s new form in this world—a seventeen-year-old elf girl with sun-kissed skin and crimson hair. Her eyes glowed with an ethereal-blue light, eyebrows thin, and ears fairly pointed and long.
She looked like the perfect fantasy elf rather than a lich from all the concept art images his sister had shown him.
“Wow, Aria, you look…”
“Gorgeous? Yeah, I know! Titania even helped me with it. What do you think, Mom?” she boasted, spinning away to show it off, even though she’d already commented on it. “The dress is beautiful, Mom. Thank you!”
Damon crossed his arms and watched, letting the warmth flood through him after the hardships that had led to this moment. His sister truly looked like a girl the world would spoil—somehow, she’d upgraded her looks from on Earth, which was a feat in itself. It was just like his sister, though, as vain as she was. The dress complemented her slight frame perfectly.
“You are so beautiful, Aria,” their mother repeated, adjusting the fabric as they pulled away. “Where Damon will be scorned, you will be adored, which means…you need to stand up for your big brother. Sun elves have a legendary reputation, and you will immediately garner attention.”
“Well, at least one of us can blend in,” Damon said with a light laugh. “That will help.”
Catelyn turned to him, her face serious. “With that being said, Son, you need to leave the capital before noon tomorrow. I know you have your own quest to save Sophia… I hope to meet such a lucky woman someday who captured my son’s heart. It’s cruel. I have only heard short stories from Aria about her. Damon? Damon!”
At his mother’s mention of his girlfriend, Damon’s eyes glazed over as the last memories of his previous life came flooding back. She lurched forward to try to catch him, but he was already falling into white.
⸻✧⸻
The cool, nighttime New York City breeze of early fall swept through the open door of the apartment complex. Damon turned to glance up at the building. In three days, he would have rented the place for two years; it was better than it looked on the outside. Funds had been tight, but he was content with the minimum accommodations if it meant his little sister had a better future.
Damon motioned to Aria, descending the stairs, using the nickname of her childhood ‘heroine.’ “C’mon, Shego; if we’re gonna catch James’ boat, we gotta punch it.”
“Drop dead! And it’s Soph that’s the hold-up. She darted back inside to grab something.”
Damon sighed, rubbing his neck and searching for his 20-year-old girlfriend at the top of the stairs; his sister had been the time sink for the last several minutes, finishing some Dungeons and Dragons session online.
Sophia had set everything up for this nighttime illegal fishing venture after James, her old high school friend, got a new boat. Damon figured he’d made contact, trying to see if she was single or wasn’t brave enough to do it alone, and wanted to see how they acted together. He wasn’t bothered by either prospect.
Honestly, it would be a nice break from his 80-hour work week, and he wasn’t insecure enough to think Sophia would fall for any guy’s game to get in her pants.
His auburn-haired girlfriend came rushing down the stairs with a strained smile, her shoulder-length locks bouncing in her descent. He was a tad curious about the brown paper bag tucked under her arm, but maybe it was a surprise.
“Sorry! Sorry! Uh, I just needed to grab something I left the other day—I was supposed to give it to James.”
“ ‘Ight. Let’s go—we’re already gonna be ten minutes late… Aria.” He gave his sister a small smirk and nudged.
“Sure,” she huffed, already glued to her phone.
He chuckled and hopped down the rest of the stairs of their Hell’s Kitchen apartment complex. Walking around his small, 1998, four-door sedan, he got in and noticed the leaves were starting to color a tad.
“It wasn’t my fault, by the way!” Aria balked, getting in the back and allowing Sophia to take the front, as usual. “That stupid hero wouldn’t die—why are Paladins so OP?! Oh, don’t mind me; I’m just going to toss the power of the freaking sun at your face!”
“You’re still on that evil campaign,” his girlfriend asked, flipping the sun visor down and opening the mirror to check her hair.
She had a crease in her brow that he knew meant she was hiding something—something serious. It wasn’t being polite to his little sister. Sophia couldn’t care less about games. It was probably about getting fired from her third job. All of them hadn’t been her fault, but she took that kind of thing hard. It was seasonal work.
“Is it going well, Aria?” she pressed, clearly deflecting from something.
Damon snickered as he turned the key, waiting for Sophia to open up in her own time. She needed her space. He flipped on the lights and pulled away from the curb; in the mirror, he caught Aria plugging away at her phone with a scowl, probably to talk to her teammates.
“You kidding, Soph? Aria ate it before we left. Ms. Devil is toast.”
“First, it’s Madam Infalius. And second, it’s not my fault. Power of the sun, remember?! Stupid gods, blessing heroes all the time; we weren’t even that bad.”
“Mmh…” Damon tilted his head, noticing headlights following them off the street as he continued their path to the docks. “I heard something about making a soul contract with some sketchy noble when the heroes came in.”
Even if his sister was a fantasy role-playing fanatic, she had a brain that Damon always praised; she’d already obtained her associate’s degree before her high school diploma, and he loved to see it framed in the hallway.
Damon rolled around his neck, checking the streets for shady figures. Still, he couldn’t see anyone walking the faintly lit sidewalks, and he turned his focus away as Sophia’s phone automatically connected to his stereo.
“Hazel Eyes again, huh?” he mused with a wink, knowing she’d recently been obsessed with ‘Wither Away’. “I just happen to have hazel eyes. Reading too deep?”
“Totally not a coincidence! Hehe,” she whispered, leaning closer to kiss his cheek. “It’s so relaxing, and I just love the emotion in his voice—you should sing it with me! Please? Please.”
He jabbed a finger back at Aria, silently raging as she had some kind of debate with her dungeon master over text about her new character, no doubt; she was always causing trouble. “Don’t want to annoy her evilness.”
“Go ahead and sing,” Aria mumbled.
“Hehe. Nice,” Sophia absently commented, adjusting her seat a little back.
Damon lost himself in the music with her, joining his girlfriend’s soft hums. In the middle of the duet, he noticed his tank was a quarter full; he’d probably walk to some of his jobs this week to save a little money since nearly everything he’d saved would be going into Aria’s next college classes.
He frowned when Aria twisted around to look behind them; there was a car on their tail, keeping a bit of distance. “Hey, Damon, it’s the car Todd’s been complaining about; it’s been taking his spot all week.”
“You don’t say…” Damon mumbled, eyebrows furrowing as he focused on the somewhat dirty SUV. Aria had an excellent memory. Better than his.
Sophia leaned to the side to stare into the rearview mirror, drawing in her lips. “Turn here, Damon.”
“I got ya,” he mumbled, not wanting to take chances in the neighborhood they lived in, and his gut tightened when it followed.
“Not creepy…” Aria hummed, snapping a picture of the vehicle with her phone and probably sending it to her role-play friends. “Might die. Stalker. Please give me another roll on Int.”
Damon chuckled at her sister’s hopeful tone. “Really?”
“You taught me to use everything to your advantage. I’m Shego, Bro! Trust. Soph—what’s up?”
The nervousness on his girlfriend’s face was unusual as she bit her lower lip, glancing at the bag by her feet. “Umm…can we try and go down the other street—here.”
“Sure.”
Damon turned. Sure enough, the car followed.
Yeah, we’re going to need to hit a more populated area. Hold up, what’s with that strange ripple in the air—
“Shit!”
Lights flashed in Damon’s eyes from the spatial distortion as they hit an intersection. A speeding garbage truck shot through, slamming right into the passenger-side door.
Screams. Screeching tires. The last thing he saw was flashing red and blue lights behind them before the world flipped, and the world went black.
Damon saw movement ahead of him before his vision went wild, then all was white; he felt weightless. The next second, he was lying on the ground, looking up at a spiraling, cosmic soup.
⸻✧⸻
Past memories fading back, he blinked, looking up at his mother as she held his head in her lap, Aria hovering overhead. It was only then he realized he was trembling, with Aria teary-eyed and no doubt wondering what was wrong with him.
“Damon? You just started shaking…”
“It’s okay, Aria… He’s okay. You went through the same thing early on. Memories? It can happen for reincarnates for a few weeks after the Veil of Chaos starts to awaken them. Aria’s situation was unique.”
“Yeah… No, I’m okay. As for Sophia… Hah. Yeah, probably half lies, I’m sure,” Damon mumbled as his sister huffed and stuck out her tongue, mad he worried her. “But…what about you?”
“Oh, no, Damon. Don’t worry about me,” she insisted. “You have plenty to worry about. Let Stephen handle my fate. I am at peace with what happens, and I am sure he has many plans already in motion, as he did with this blessed visit. Right now, all that matters is that you two survive to rescue Sophia. I trust you, Damon. Keep my little girl safe.”
“Mom…”
Aria closed in to hug her.
Damon fought back the heat in his nose, getting back to his feet and shaking his head. It felt a little disorienting to be so tall again. “When I rescue Sophia, I’ll find you if Uncle Stephen hasn’t already. I promise.”
Catelyn shook her head with a rather stern sigh. “I know how stubborn you can be, and I’m sure that has only escalated with you regaining your memories of your former life… You aren’t just the little boy I raised, but please, Damon, focus on your quest. The oath you made to join the northern campaign—yes, I see the marks and heard about it. It buys you five years, but you must be ready when the time comes. You must be at least Level 40.”
“That sounds easy!” Aria scoffed, puffing up her chest and shooting him a sideways smirk. “We’ve got EXP buffs, Party EXP Feats, and I’m a freaking Wizard. Literally. We’ll be 40 by the end of the month.”
Their mother’s chest shook with sad, quiet laughter. “You’re such a gem, Aria, but no… This world’s system is not like the stories you’d tell me. This world used to be filled with reincarnates. I know you can reach Level 40 in five years, and that in itself is a testament to how much faith I have in you both,” she whispered, kissing them each on the foreheads. “Gaining EXP is challenging here… You’ll learn soon enough.”
“Okay,” Aria mumbled, still no doubt thinking she was overhyping it. Her voice dropped an octave as she glanced toward the door. “Umm, I think the maid says we have to go.”
“Alright…” Their mother took one last look at them, tears of joy instead of sorrow in her gaze, before embracing them one last time. “I thank Titania that I could see you both one last time before our separation, for however long that may be… I love you both. Aria…”
His sister squeezed her as tightly as she could, arms shaking. “I love you, too, Mom! I know, I need to return to my amulet…” As his sister’s consciousness flowed back into the necklace, she whispered a final “I love you, Mom.”
Damon could feel the urgency in the maid’s stare as she waited by the door; Bailey would be back soon.
Catelyn pressed the dress into Damon’s hands, now folded into a small sack. “For when Aria needs it.” She cupped his face. “Remember who you are, Damon. Not what they see, but who you truly are.”
“Time to go,” the maid announced from the doorway.
With a final, desperate hug, Damon tore himself away from his mother. The maid led him swiftly back toward the records chamber through a different series of corridors.
“So, about Soph, Damon,” Aria’s voice broke the silence as they walked, hesitant and sniffling from their goodbye. “Don’t be mad, but it was…it was my suggestion that we do the random races when we met with Titania. It’s my fault Soph was t-turned into a monster. I’m sorry!”
What?
“Don’t be angry! It made sense. It was reasonable that we could get something stronger than just a human, and it would cost us nothing extra.”
And Sophia? Damon pressed.
Aria’s mental presence squirmed. “I really don’t know, Damon. I know she turned into some kind of monster, but I’m not exactly sure what. Titania said we have time. She did! I’m not lying. Sophia will be sent down later on. She hasn’t been born as a monster yet.”
That’s probably why Sorrel Nightbloom wanted to talk with us. Damon breathed a long breath, piecing together what she was saying. Titania has further instructions.
“Exactly! See? Not so bad after all. So…are you mad?”
No, Aria, Damon said with a forced laugh, bringing his hand up to gently press his fingers against the amulet.
Like you said before. I made the final choices. The buck stops with me… If we’re to be reunited and make it through this, we have to have hope and faith—not only in each other, but in Titania, as well. Whatever game she’s playing, we know it’s for chaotic-good. Right now, all we can do is move forward, which brings us to our mysterious friend here.
“Who are you?” Damon asked the maid as they neared the records chamber. “I feel like I’ve seen you before in my memories, if vaguely; perhaps around Uncle Stephen?”
A mysterious smile played across her lips. “Simply put, I am whatever the marquess needs me to be.”
“Totally an assassin,” Aria whispered definitively in his mind, taking a total one-eighty from the emotional state she was in before, which, to be fair, was probably due to her lich nature Feats. “I’m guessing part lover, part assassin, and maybe a music instructor.”
Music instructor?
“Why not?”
Sure, Sis. Or…something even more complicated, Damon thought, studying the mysterious lady.
They arrived back at the records chamber just as Bailey returned, her face rigid with irritation. Her eyes immediately narrowed.
“I see you’re a big Nightcrawler now. Tall, easily capable of overpowering a defenseless woman… Dammit. And where did you get that bag? Terrify one of the maids into giving it to you?” she demanded. “Where did you get it?”
Trying to be as harmless as possible, Damon held it out without resistance. “It’s, umm, a gift from the serving staff… Take it how you will?”
“Nice one! Oh, you better keep your grubby hands off my dress, big nose!”
Bailey snatched it from him, rifling through the contents. Finding only the dress, she snorted and appraised him up and down, probably picturing him trying to slip it on. “And why haven’t you changed your dirty race with that aging Feat or whatever you did? Still insisting on flaunting your true nature? Mocking us? Maybe you should go back a few years if you want to fit into your pretty dress.”
“I cannot,” Damon answered honestly, deciding it was probably the thing she most wanted to hear and would cool her down. “The Holy Emperor has placed a restriction on me that I must appear as I truly am. Well, other than age.”
Bailey seemed taken aback by his candor. After a moment, she handed the sack back to him. “Praise the Holy Emperor. Hah. At least the maids had a sense of humor; I’ll have to compliment them sometime,” she remarked with a humorless chuckle, eyeing his prison garb. “What use does a dark elf have for human clothing?”
“Perhaps I hope to make friends,” Damon offered. “I’m not all bad under this purple skin and charming eyes. My status sheet does say ‘chaotic-good’ after all.”
Bailey rolled her eyes. “There’s a lot of leeway with that chaos… You have twenty-four hours to leave the capital. After that, the guards will be instructed to execute you on sight.” She gestured toward the exit. “Now, get out of my sight, Nightcrawler.”
As Damon walked away, the weight of thirty steel pieces in his sack and his sister’s amulet around his neck, he couldn’t help but feel the crushing pressure of everything that had changed. Despite his new body, he was a ten-year-old outcast. If this bracelet were taken off, he was basically powerless, with a death sentence hanging over him in a world bent on his destruction.
But for the first time since regaining his memories, he felt a spark of purpose. Find Sophia. Close the Hell Gate. Save his mother. And somehow, survive long enough to do it all.
Ready for an adventure, Shego? he thought as he stepped out of the shadows of the grand hallway to bask in the sunlight, touching the burn mark on his shoulder—it didn’t sear his flesh. The bracelet was doing its job.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Aria replied. “But let’s get out of this place before that Bailey cow lady changes her mind about letting us walk out alive. So, uh, what’s the first stop?”
With one last look at the gleaming marble of the Royal Judgment Facility, Damon turned and walked toward whatever uncertain future awaited.
I’m Tamer, right? My thoughts, find the sketchiest slave owner I can and get an animal we can rely on. A tank, as you call it?
“Ooh! We talkin’ something like cat slave girls you can tame or a scrawny bear man we can beef up into a handsome stud? Oh, I like that idea. I can sleep on his belly at night and hear his tragic past as he sleep-talks. I’ll confront him about it, offering my support. Comfort him in his nightmares! Huge win. Yo, find me a future husbando! Otomie game, here I come!”
Damon’s lips drew in, and he hissed out a long breath. Aria, the more I hear about the content you consumed, the more I wonder if I should have restricted your library.
“What?! You’ve already got your monster girl. Let a beautiful lich lady dream! And the first stop should be the Adventurer’s Guild. Always the Adventurer’s Guild!”
Nice pivot. I’ll take it under advisement.
“I am your only advisor!”
For now.
“What does that mean?”
It means, for now, puffy cheeks.
“Mmmgm…”
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[ Next POV: King Enrir Rhommo du Mentris ]
[ Theme: What is really happening with Grandpa? ]
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