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"For now, there's two options." I said. "You can either escape and go to my town in the south of the continent, it is far away, cold, but peaceful, you won't ever lack anything there, and people will treat you well. And once we're done here, you may choose to come back with your son."

"And the other is to stay here with us. We'll protect you, but we might also ask you to fight, and grow stronger, so you can protect your son and at the same time, fight for the city you've been born and grown into." I said. "Your son has a special power, something that might make him the savior of this city, or the desert… But he needs training to get stronger. To defeat monsters and Level Up."

"That's…" 

Nia remained in silence, she probably wanted to go to safety, any mother would want that. And I wouldn't blame her if she went and left the rest up to us. In fact, I secretly wanted her to choose that so things would be easier for all of us.

However, there was also the part regarding responsibility, what she thought was the right decision, and also the injustices of this city, what she thought about that, and the frustration she always felt about how things had changed.

"What would my husband do…?" She wondered, sighing weakly. 

"Mama!" Celes smiled cutely, touching her mother's trembling hands. "Let's stay and protect the city! With my magic, I can bring water to everyone! Even if I have to fight monsters… it's fine!"

Those were indeed the words of a child lacking on experience and proper judgement… But it could also be said that those were the words of the future little hero of this city. Perhaps the Divine Spirit has fully reincarnated into Celes, someone completely different.

But I can tell that some of her original emotions, of her love for this city and her people, remains within her second life's personality, something that might drive him to work harder and fight for the city he loved even in his previous life, and that even sacrificed herself to protect it.

"Celes…" Nia sighed. "But it's dangerous… We might get hurt, we might even die…!"

"Not at all! I'll protect Celes and her mom!" Nyx said while frowning. "Trust my strength! And mama too! And auntie, and dad!"

"Nyx's super strong, it's fine!" Celes giggled. "I don't want to run away… I don't know why but I just want to stay… and protect the people… I sometimes remember mommy always crying at night, I don't want that to happen again!" The boy said that as his eyes glowed bright blue.

"We won't force him to fight or something." I explained. "But cooperation could be ideal, he could become a figure that people would unify for. I would never make a child fight, until they show to be extremely competent like little Nyx, or Silva and Fabian, and his friends… At most, he could fight using his magic. There's a Dungeon underground, right? We'll get there and help him gain some levels, you'll gain levels as well, Nia."

"I see…" Nia sighed. "If that's the case… I guess it is better to stay. I don't want to escape or run away, even if you might take of mostly everything, I know that there might be a place, or somewhere where my son and I could help! So to repay for your kindness and help, I want to do anything I can! And Celes too, right?"

"Yeah!" Celes celebrated. "Let's help everyone! I'll give water to everyone!"

"Looks like it is decided." I sighed. "We'll do everything we can to protect you, so don't worry. For now, we have to gather our thoughts and plan what we'll do now. We cannot step out recklessly, there might be more powers lurking around than we originally imagined… And this whole problem might even involve a goddess from all things, we have to be careful."

"A-A goddess…?!" Nia panicked.

"Well, the whole church is run by one, and she's dead set into torturing everyone here for some reason…" Partner crossed her arms. "Also she seems really angry with the Oasis Spirit, so whatever happened between the two, we'll have to find out in the future, as we investigate everything…"

"Yeah, as she said." Emeraldine nodded. "There must be a reason on why she told her servants to look for the Divine Spirit's reincarnation… And we have to find that reason, eventually."

"Hahh…" Nia sighed, still nervous. "Okay, I get it…"

"No rush though, let's rest for the moment and relax, let's eat good, and sleep well." I smiled. "Tomorrow we'll begin our investigations. Before clashing against the church or something, we have to prioritize finding the dungeon below and see what they're doing down there…"

"I agree." Lucifer nodded. "I think we might even have to split into two groups, we're too many, and that brings even more attention. We could also look for clues more efficiently."

"You're not wrong with that." Emeraldine agreed. "Let's plan things out tomorrow morning, I want to eat more for now…"

"Alright, everyone! All of you worked really hard today, so let's have a nice meal together!" I laughed.

Like that, the small feast continued, Nia and Celes stuffed themselves full of food, and so did Fabian and his friends, who were big gluttons. Catarina the blood with Partner, and Lucifer and Nyx ate a lot of meat. 

Everyone started getting along much better now too, Takeshi and Laura started talking a lot more with Fabian and his friends, and Nyx and Celes with Silva too, who was the most timid of the small kids.

"Silva! So you also come from Ruby Palace? Wow…!" Celes was amazed, looking at her into the eyes.

"Y-Yeah…" Silva nodded. "I was a chimera child… And I was saved by miss Catarina over there… She's my mentor, and my auntie now! A-And… Well, we saved that city! …I think."

"So cool! I also want to save the city!" Celes giggled.

"As long as we stick together we'll do just that!" Nyx smiled proudly. "Trust me, my frens!"

"Oooh! Nyx's so reliable!" Celes giggled.

"She's strong too." Silva smiled.

Nyx was surprisingly charismatic… Did she get that from me or her biological mother? Because Lucifer is not exactly… like her.

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