Chapter 112: Struck By Lightning

Ira observed his surroundings in a passive manner with an expression that made it hard to tell what he was thinking. The place he was currently at was Rhys’ hometown which was pretty large. People moved quickly over the cobblestone roads and headed toward their destinations with content expressions.

Ira listened closely and could hear Rhys’ furrow her brows in confusion so he spoke up, “This is the town you grew up in right?”

Rhys nodded before producing a notepad and writing, [It’s different from what I remember that’s all.]

“That’s how those things go, I guess.” Ira shrugged.

At his side, Harper made a curious expression, “Where did you grow up Ira?”

Ira smiled at her before he spoke, “Nowhere.”

It was a cryptic answer but Harper just nodded acceptingly and assumed Ira fell out of the sky. Although Ira could go back to the Fallmire Manor, which had fallen into disrepair, to see the home of his parents, he had no desire to. In addition, he spent a majority of his life in the Void when considering his age. Rhys took note of his words but didn’t attempt to ask him anything else.

The trio found their way to the Town Center and began to search for Rhys’ parents. She approached an attendant at the desk near the entrance and placed a note on the table.

[Do you know of Piers and Cecelia Milbourne? They also have a son named Jonah and a daughter named Ophelia.]

The attendant looked at Ira, Rhys, and Harper with some slight suspicion. Their appearances were eye-catching, to say the least, which caused her to think they may have had some malicious intent.

“May I know who all of you are first?” She asked.

Ira flicked his hand and produced the Mercenary Proof and once the attendant read it she nearly fell over in surprise.

“Are you that Ira?!” She spoke in an excited shout. All eyes in the building turned toward her which her to make an apologetic expression.

“Are there any others?” Ira asked with a chuckle.

“No, of course not.” The attendant laughed nervously. Ira’s name had spread far after the Summit so it wasn’t strange for his presence to cause a stir.

“The Milbourne’s live in a mansion on the outer edge of town, you can't miss it,” The attendant said in a polite manner.

“Got it?” Ira asked Rhys who gave a delayed nod before following him.

Rhys felt her chest tighten with anxiety as they walked through the streets. Eventually, the numbers of houses they passed became less and a large property with ample space could be seen sitting atop a small hill.

Rhys’ heart rate and breathing became erratic but soon calmed as Ira placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at his smiling face and began to form a smile of her own.

They approached the gates of the mansion and an old man came out to greet them.

“Hello, is there anything you need from the Milbourne’s?” He was alert after seeing the weapons on Rhys and Harper but kept his composure.

Rhys nodded and began to write on her notepad before handing it over, [Can you tell them that their daughter has come to visit?]

The old man narrowed his eyes skeptical but voiced his compliance as he handed the notepad back, “Please stay right here.”

As the old man disappeared Ira spoke up, “I didn’t know you were from a noble family.”

Rhys shook her head and scribbled, [I’m not. Before I left we were just an average family, but I sent them a lot of money so I guess it helped.]

“Who is it?!” A middle-aged man in his fifties came out with a woman who must’ve been his wife beside him. They immediately look at Rhys before looking at Ira and Harper at her side.

“I’ll warn you ahead of time that pretending to be my daughter won’t work out too well. We’ve met such people before and all of them were reported to the authorities.” The man threatened as he looked on.

Ira just smiled as if he didn’t hear anything while Rhys slowly lifted her hands toward her mask. She removed it and revealed the two lightning shaped scars on the sides of her face before looking at the couple.

“...Rhys?” The woman cried out as she rushed out of the gates and attempted to hug Rhys.

Rhys hurriedly shook her head as she moved out of the way, she was scared that her emotions would cause her to generate lightning and hurt her mother.

It was only then that Ira saw burn scars on the back of her mother’s hand. As Rhys’ dad stepped out he could see similar marks trailing up his arm.

“Rhys…” Her dad looked as if he was going to cry before he looked to Ira. “Please forgive me, come in.” He gestured for them to enter.

Ira smiled and gave Rhys a meaningful look before she led the way.

…

“Tea?” Piers offered tensely as they moved to sit down at a large table.

“Why not?” Ira grinned.

The old servant bowed before heading for the kitchen while Cecelia rubbed her hands over her knees. The couple was dressed in somewhat humble clothing unbefitting of their wealth, but Ira paid it no mind.

“So who are you?” Piers asked Ira since he knew of his daughter’s inability to talk.

“Ira,” Ira replied with a friendly smile.

“That Ira?!” Cecelia shouted as she looked at Rhys who nodded meekly.

Just as Piers was about to speak, he noticed the wedding ring on Ira’s finger and looked even more surprised, “You’re married? Does that mean this is my granddaughter?” Piers asked as he glanced at Harper.

Cecelia looked incredibly happy since she was aware of the prestige surrounding Ira but Rhys’ expression grew flush as she waved her hands sporadically.

At that time, tea was placed on the table and the servant stepped out of the room. Ira lifted the cup and began to drink while leaving the explaining to Rhys.

[Ira is a friend of mine and Harper is his sister.] Rhys placed the note on the table abruptly. Her memories of the time where she hugged Ira resurfaced as she grew slightly redder. After all, Ira was the first male she actually had physical contact with which was a fact she couldn’t forget.

“A friend?” Cecelia seemed slightly disappointed since she could see just how much her daughter cared for the young man sitting next to her.

Piers cleared his throat and began to speak, “Where have you been Rhys? After you left we thought the worst and then we began receiving huge chests of Gre. For the first few months we used most of it to try and find you, but all we learned was of a Mercenary named Rhys operating in the Capital. We tried to send letters to you, but you never responded.”

Rhys wrote as she held her head down, [I’m sorry.]

Cecelia smiled bitterly as she looked at Rhys, “What happened all those years ago was...We’ve made our peace with it and we don’t blame you, we never have. If anything it was our fault for not believing you.”

Piers looked ashamed as he clenched his fist, “If we weren’t so dismissive then your brother wouldn’t have…”

Rhys’ slightly trembled as she tried to hold the tears back, but they found a way out.

Ira placed the teacup down and spoke, “What happened?”

Piers and Cecelia shared a glanced before they looked at Rhys for permission. She nodded and Piers began to tell the story.

…

A little over a decade ago.

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Rhys grew up with two older brothers and a younger sister in what was an average household for citizens of the Grenitian Kingdom. Although life for an average family could be difficult with four kids they found a way to live on. On a day like any other, Rhys was playing outside with her siblings in the woods.

“Rhys! I’ll find you!” Her sister called out.

Rhys giggled as she ran away and hid deeper in, she huddled down near a log and successfully hid.

After a few minutes passed, a spark of electricity appeared at the tip of her fingers. Rhys looked frightened and jumped back before blinking. She looked at her hands before slowly stretching them out, but the spark didn’t appear again.

“Found you, Rhys!” Ophelia called out but Rhys was too distracted by her hands.

“Rhys, something wrong?” Ophelia grabbed Rhys’ shoulder which caused her to leap in surprise.

“I…” Rhys looked at her hands before shaking her head, “I’ll go count.”

That’s how it started, Rhys was too young to pay any real attention to a small spark and ignored it until it came back.

In the middle of winter during an extremely cold night, Rhys rolled under the covers as she tried to warm herself up. Maybe it was the friction but a spark appeared at the tips of her fingers to her surprise. She kicked off the blanket to make sure it was the cause and slowly touched her fingertips together before a large spark appeared and caused a painful sensation.

“Ah!” Rhys ran out of bed and into her parent's room before climbing into their bed.

“...Hmm...What is it, Rhys?” Piers rolled over as he looked at his daughter who was clearly scared.

“Lightning...It came out of my hands and hurt me.” Rhys said in a shaken voice.

“Oh?” Cecelia woke up and smiled as she stroked Rhys’ head while Piers laughed.

“Did you hear that, Cecelia? Our little Rhys had quite the dream,” Piers smiled drowsily.

“It wasn’t a dream…” Rhys mumbled.

“Come on, Rhys. Can you make it appear again?” Cecelia asked.

Rhys nodded before she touched her fingertips together, but nothing happened.

“See?” Piers hugged his daughter.

“But…” Rhys was sure that it was real because it hurt when she did it before.

“You can sleep in here for the night, Rhys,” Cecelia said as she kissed Rhys on the forehead before closing her eyes.

“...Ok.” Rhys eventually fell asleep and the strange occurrence became nothing more than an old memory.

A month later she was wrestling with her second oldest brother, Dorian in the living room. It was an open room with a fireplace that was currently working to warm the room.

“Give it back,” Rhys said as she tried to wrestle a wooden horse out of his hands.

“No.” Dorian stubbornly refused to return the wooden horse and held it higher than Rhys could reach.

Rhys began hitting him and he responded by shoving her, causing her to cry.

“Give it back!” Rhys went to push him but electricity covered her hands and shocked Dorian. He fell back with a scream and eventually her parents came in to see Dorian with a burnt shirt and reddened skin.

“Rhys!” Cecelia looked surprised, “You burned your brother?”

Rhys shook her head fiercely, “It...It wasn’t me! Lightning came out of my hand and then…”

“What did we say about lying, Rhys?” Piers picked up the crying Dorian as he looked at Rhys with a stern expression.

“I’m not lying!” Rhys protested, “Ask him!”

“What happened Dorian?” Cecelia asked.

“I-I don’t know,” Dorian stammered, “She-she pushed me and then it hurt.” He also didn’t see any lightning so he thought she burned him with something.

Piers looked at the pokers at the fireplace and then to Rhys before shaking his head, “You’re in trouble, Rhys. Until I say otherwise you’re to stay in your room and other than washing up, using the bathroom, or eating, you aren’t allowed to come out.”

Rhys held an expression that showed a mixture of anger and sadness since her parents didn’t believe her, but she just went into her room with much resistance.

After that, a year had passed a Rhys had changed. She rarely spoke and was reluctant to play with her siblings anymore. The sparks had occurred more frequently but no one seemed to believe her so she never talked about it.

Rhys was half hidden under a blanket reading a book when her brother Dorian ran in and pulled it right off of her.

“Everyone’s outside, you should just come out already,” Dorian said.

“...No,” Rhys answered as she pulled the blanket over her. She was too scared of hurting someone so she became more withdrawn.

Dorian continued to ask, but Rhys didn’t budge so he became frustrated. All he wanted was to play with his sister, but she continued to refuse.

“Lightning girl,” Dorian teased as he grabbed her book.

“Stop.” Rhys wasn’t quick to get angry and instead held out her hand while waiting for him to give the book back.

“Catch me, lightning girl!” Dorian’s teasing was his misguided way of attempting to get his sister back to normal. He had remembered the earlier incident but didn’t hold it against her.

“Dorian, stop.” Rhys’ breathing became quicker as she tried to keep calm but she was just too afraid of herself.

“Lightning girl! Lightning girl!” Dorian ran around the room while shouting at Rhys.

“Dorian!” Rhys screamed, but Dorian covered his ears and laughed.

He opened his mouth to speak, “Lightning–” but he was unable to finish. A bright flash covered his eyes and the deafening sound of thunder filled his ears.

Piers, Cecelia, Jonah, and Ophelia were outside when it happened. Lightning burst from within the house along with the ear-piercing scream of a girl.

“Rhys!” Piers rushed in, ignoring the lightning.

“Stay here,” Cecelia said to Jonah and Ophelia before running after him.

Inside the room, lightning crawled over Rhys’ body as she screamed hoarsely. Two fresh burns trailed down her face as lightning continued to strike her.

When Piers burst in, the room was burning and sparks of electricity were everywhere. Dorian lay motionless with smoke emerging from his body while Rhys’ painful screams began to lower in volume until it was impossible for sound to leave her lips.

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