Chapter 3214 Family Reunited (Part 1)


    "Yeah, I miss Solus too." Kamila sighed after reading his fleeting expression. "I bet you two would be neck-deep in some nerdy debate if she was here with us."


    "Yeah, we would." Once he was done, Lith knocked on the wall and said: "Thank you."


    "You''re welcome." Baba Yaga replied as the basin and the changing table disappeared.


    "Let''s get out of here before I overstay my welcome." Lith tried to hand a baby over to Kamila but they both clung fang and claw to him until he gave up.


    The reunited family walked through the bedroom door and into a corridor that extended for dozens of meters with several doors and branches on either side.


    "Farm me sideways, Baba Yaga''s hut redefines the ''bigger on the inside'' concept. The bedroom alone is bigger than the whole hut''s size from the outside. Which way is the exit?" Lith asked.


    "Any way, if you are a guest." Kamila rapped on the door from which they had just come out and a Warp Gate formed into its frame. "Otherwise this place is an inescapable dungeon."


    Lith nodded and stepped toward the dimensional corridor but Kamila grabbed him and conjured a Hush Zone.


    "Do you remember what happened when we tried the family intervention on Derek?" She asked.


    "It''s hard to forget." Lith grimaced in shame and regret.


    "Then you know that you must be extra nice to members of your family." Kamila said. "Your words stung deeper than any sword or spell could, especially for Elina. I''ve never seen her cry so much."


    "Is it that bad?" Lith inwardly cursed his Abomination self.


    "Worse. Even after I brought you back from the Trawn woods, she''s the only one who didn''t come to check on you while Baba Yaga carried you to the bedroom." She replied.


    "Is Mom that angry?"


    "Can we approach you?" Raaz was next, clearing his throat.


    "I would love it if you did, Dad. I''m back. For real this time." His words pushed the members of the Verhen family into a charge that would have tackled Lith to the ground were he not a Divine Beast.


    "I''m so sorry." Elina cut through the crowd to hug him first, breaking into tears upon contact. "I''m sorry for everything you had to go through as a child. I should have protected you from the cold and hunger. I should have convinced your father to disown Meln before he could hurt you so much and his hatred turned into obsession.


    "I know that mine are just empty words but please, give me one more chance to prove to you that I mean them." She checked his arms and chest for injuries and then his face for malnutrition.


    Elina caressed Lith''s cheeks with her thumbs, staring into his eyes while wishing for his forgiveness.


    "Don''t say that, Mom." He took her hands into his own and kissed them. "None of that was your fault and I could never resent you for something you couldn''t do anything about.


    "I won''t try to deny what my Abomination side said. I may have thought those things as a kid, but only because back then I was in survival mode. My Abomination side is what gave me the fierceness to endure what I had to, but only until you taught me there was more than survival.


    "You taught me how to live." Lith handed the kids to Kamila and wrapped Elina in an embrace. "Don''t take his words to heart. He was just hurt and scared. He only remembered the worst parts of my life and dealt with them the only way he knew."


    "Your Abomination side wasn''t wrong, though." Elina returned the embrace, shedding more tears. "And the worst part is that I can''t be angry at him. Not only because he''s a part of you but also because he''s the reason you''re alive.


    "I''d endure his verbal lashing at any time if it means you''ll always return home safe."


    She sniffled and quivered for a while before finding enough strength to stand up on her own.


    "Welcome back, son." Raaz gave Lith a warm but short embrace as soon as Elina stepped away. "I know I wasn''t a perfect father, but I have no regret because I know I did the best I could.


    "I can only hope that you''ve learned from the few things I made right and you''ll use them to become a better father than I was."


    "Dad!" Lith tried to deny such words but Raaz stopped him in his tracks.


    "I''m not finished, young man. Whatever your Abomination side is, wherever he is now, thank him for me."