Lotte wakes suddenly, eyes widened in terror, gasping for air, her brows sweaty as she screams, "Nooooo!!!!" As though woken from a nightmare, she sits up, her arms stretched. A moment passes. After collecting herself together, she looks around, down at her arms her wounds bandaged. After unwrapping them, her wounds looked healed; not a scar remained. She gets up, looking around for a moment in a daze. Her eyes widen suddenly, her attention immediately drawn to a campfire. Looking over it, she spots someone laying against the cave wall, wrapped in bandages as well—but from head to toe. Rushing forward, Lotte runs towards them. Unwrapping the bandage from its face, she sees beautiful long chestnut brown hair, roots with light tips at its end. Lotte looked intently, continuing to remove the bandages. Her mother's silk skin was completely wrapped in bandages. Beneath, she wore a beautiful silk dress.
Lotte looked in admiration at her mother's beauty. Tears began to swell in her eyes. She hugged her mother. Strangely, her mother felt warm. Taking a step back, Lotte gasped in fear. She laid her head on her mother's chest it was heaving as though she was breathing. Lotte, almost excited, begins to shake her mother furiously, begging her to wake up and open her eyes.
"She won't wake," a voice came from behind her. Jumping in a near heart-stopping fear, she immediately turns around, meeting a pair of amber-like eyes that gazed at her. An old memory bled into her vision.
"His gaze is often full of intensity, you know, but it's gentle and warm in a way. Also, guess what? Because of that, they call him the Omnipresent Sun," her mother would laugh, a smile beaming on her face. Her mother would always laugh and smile whenever she spoke about Lotte's father.
"He once filled the entire courtyard with red carnations, screaming at the top of his lungs just how much he loved me in front of the entire mansion. I remember screaming and running away," her mother would blush and scream into her pillow like a young girl in love for the first time, her cheeks flushed a deep pink, and sigh.
Lotte would laugh loudly, coughing in the process.
"CHARLOTTE LORENTH!! DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH AT YOUR MOTHER!" her mother would scream, her brown eyes reflecting the candle's light.
"Many noble daughters would visit the Velhauren Manor hoping to spend time with him, talk to him, walk with him, and attempt to stay at his side, but they never would find him," she smiled.
"He had a terrible habit of laying in the grass where the wind blew cold through his hair, and I'd have a terrible habit of laying on his chest, sleeping so soundly next to him. We would often remain like that till the evening," her mother would whisper.
"Heck, at one point, one of the noble's daughters caught us and began to scream at the top of her lungs. 'Get away from him, you peasant wench!' she screamed."
"Your father, now awake, would pick me up in his arms, running with impressive speed into the forest. The guards would chase us, but none were ever able to match your father even on horseback."
"We would run into the forest to continue our afternoon naps," her mother smiled.
"Wasn't the forest too dangerous and filled with ravenous monsters?" Lotte would ask.
"Ah yes, it was filled to the brim with wild beasts, but it didn't matter. Your father was always there with me. They often steered clear of your father, you see, and regardless, I always felt safe," her mother would blush even more.
Back to the present moment, Lotte saw the pair of amber eyes once cold and empty now filled with a deep sadness. Taking a moment before realizing, Lotte falls to her knees, bowing her head.
"I greet the Omnipresent Sun."
To her surprise, he takes a knee.
"Please get up. It's weird for my daughter to bow to me."
Gasping with surprise on her face, tears begin to swell in the corners of her vision.
"I'm sorry. I released a lot of arcana. It's sustaining her body's life, but she is in a comatose state. As her soul had left its host temporarily, being placed back into it, she's unable to wake up as of now."
Lotte gasped in shock. Even in her previous life, she had heard of necromancers and their ability to revive the dead, but dealing in souls was unheard of. Her father was a monster, and from the way he acted, he knew it.
"Your fighting style, your eyes, and the way you stood your ground you're almost like I was at your age. How impressive," he smiled warmly.
Lotte returned a skeptical expression, almost looking insulted. Her father laughed nervously for some time before sighing. He stood up, standing tall above her.
"Have you rested well enough?"
Lotte nods.
"Good. We'll be making a stop at a nearby village."
He walks over to her mother, carefully wrapping her in bandages and placing her on the back of his horse before saddling up. Lotte goes towards him, and he looks down on her. An ice-cold gaze flashes in her mind for a moment. Blinking it away, she walks forward. He leans down, his hand outstretched, offering it to her. She places her palm in his hand. He lifts her up easily, setting her in front of him. Laid, she sits on his arm, which he holds against his chest. Moving the horse forward, it rides out of the cave, galloping into the forest.
Lotte looked up at her father. He exuded a warmth she felt despite the cold, chilling night felt as though she hugged a miniature version of the sun.
"The Omnipresent Sun," she whispered, closing her eyes again, nestling against him, falling asleep.