“Aaaand hoppp…” My voice died down just as I wanted to throw a used pan out of the window. Mary stood inside the door, staring at me with a stern gaze. Demurely, I put the pan on the pile of kitchen utensils. I looked at the window one last time, wanting to throw all of it out, but held back from doing so in the end.

“Is everything finished?” Mary asked, already giving her hardest to look away from the plates.

“I´ll still have to do the salad. Can you carry these two plates?” She took the two plates and made her way to the exit of the kitchen, only to wait inside the doorframe and turn around suspiciously. I froze mid-movement, the handle of the window in my hands and slowly closed it again. I was so close …

“Kind of hot in here, isn’t it?” I said while going towards the other plate. She kept an eye on me the whole time as I strolled to her unhappily. She refused to let me throw the used cooking utensils out of the window which was basically my trademark.

Disgruntled, I followed behind her through the corridors. Our two guests were audible before I even entered the dining room. One of them bawled around unhappily, while her mother couldn’t soothe her at all. It was probably way too late for Sofie to be here, but as she couldn’t be left alone at home, we wanted Laura to bring her over.

“Volia!” I said as I sat down and put my plate in front of me.

“That looks delicious.” Commented Laura while I questioned her ability to see properly. I was never a fan of fish in general, but this thing in front of me was even worse. It was doubtful that I cooked it perfectly in the first place as I never saw this kind of fish before. First of all, it still lived as Mary handed me the fish with glee in her eyes. She even gave me a recipe, although I doubted she was actually serious. I had to cook the fish alive and wasn’t allowed to close the lid of the pot.

These fish were quite the beasts though as they apparently lived in hot springs. They jumped out of the large cooking pot from time to time, only to be caught by me and to be put back into it. The cuisine of another world was truly terrific in that regard, especially because the fish eventually died because I salted the water instead of the heat. And so, I sat at the table, a fish who still flapped his tail from time to time despite being dead while the other two looked at their own fish as if it was some kind of delicatesse while casually ignoring the baby who was still crying loudly. So much for being a great mother, Laura …

I sighed, stood up from my chair and walked over to Sofie who sat in her own little chair. I picked her up, carefully to not touch her skin and sat her on my lap.

“If you ever teleport me without my approval, I will snap her neck.” I whispered in Sofie´s ear and then held my finger in front of her face. She grabbed it weakly and to my satisfaction, I wasn’t teleported or smited to death. She was still crying in my arms and after a long few seconds of thinking about what to do, I suddenly had a brilliant idea.

“From the land of no return~

elven ships were coming home~.

A sunset like a golden flame,

elves praised their heroes fame~.

Told stories of a war~

Distant and on another shore~.

Don´t worry about all the gore,

Because I´ll keep you save and sound, at least that’s what I swore~.”

No sounds whatsoever. Well, except for the fish in front of me who had a spasmic attack right as I stopped singing. Sofie apparently liked the song as she stopped crying and looked at me with her eyes wide open. Mary looked at me quite sternly while Laura stared at me as if I ate her child … not that Sofie smelled too badly … she looked rather tasty in fact … where was I going again? Oh, right.

“So, what´s your problem mum? Oh, your fish is …” Her fish, impaled by the fork in its head, started to flap wildly on her table, pushing the vegetables I put on it away. Mary barely seemed to realize what was happening on her plate as she was focused entirely on me.

“I don’t have a problem. I was just surprised you could sing.” That was … a welcome change. This was probably one of the very few times she was positively surprised about my actions so far.

“Oh … that’s nice to hear. What about you, Laura?” I questioned her.

“You are singing elven songs to my child?” Laura on the other hand apparently took quite an issue with my choice.

“Oh, please, not you too. Please don’t be a racist.” I begged. The beavers, may they all rest in agony, and their vulgar speech was still fresh on my mind. Especially the water …

“Since hundreds of years, we are at war with them! They plundered our villages, they did all these horri-“

“Oh, so it´s a tradition now to loath others because they are different.” I smirked, stabbed my fork into the fish as it was just flapping of the table. It was still a mystery how I was ever going to eat this thing.

“And now I´m getting lectured about morals by a vampire?” Laura answered, clearly not too keen on the prospect.

“Oh, what? No, I kill elves and humans alike. I only wanted to say there are no different races in front of death. And I doubt the goddess of life sees that any different.” I said and lifted the fish up. It was still flapping wildly, even though I clearly killed it on multiple occasions.

“Lucinda, we are not here to argue.” Interjected Mary, keeping her own fish in check, but unwilling to eat it because we were arguing.

“Is that so? How about we eat first in this case?” Mary nodded at my proposal, while Laura looked down on her plate in wonder. The salad I made was all over the place and the most crucial ingredient has gone missing. Her fish currently made its way towards the other side of the table where Mary sat. Laura had trouble catching it again with her fork as the poor, dead fish spasmed on the table quite wildly.

I ignored what happened around me for the most part, even as Mary laughed at Laura´s misfortune. I rather played with Sofie who still sat on my lap and laughed from time to time as I tickled her. Her blue eyes were crystal clear, her soul oozed with happiness. And I was strangely happy as well. At least until Laura started praying. Loudly.

“We thank the gods for thi-“ My plate flew a few centimetres over her head and smashed into the wall behind her. It was completely silent as I placed my hand back onto Sofie´s back. Not even the fishes were making any noises for the moment and as usual, I had all the attention again.

“Lucinda!” Mary screamed as soon as she realized what happened.

“If she wants to thank the gods for a few dead fish, she can do it somewhere else.” I said in my defence.

“Are you this unstable that you cannot bear to hear a table prayer?” I was just angry at Laura´s blind faith. That was all. I had nothing against a table prayer … okay, I did, but so what?

“Unstable? What are you talking about?” I asked angrily.

“You lose yourself to your own emotions rather often lately, don’t you think?” Did I? I don’t think so. In fact, I haven’t lost myself once since the beaver massacre. What she interpreted as me, losing control, was probably just that I showed my emotions to her.

“That’s because I don’t need to hide them in front of you!” I claimed.

“That’s … part of what I wanted to talk about with you two. I don’t think it´s a good idea to keep Sofie this close.” I couldn’t understand where this was coming from. Was there some hidden danger I couldn’t see?

“And what do you mean by that?” I asked and squinted my eyes.

“You are … your presence isn´t good for Sofie´s development. And I fear this won´t have a good ending if you two stay close.” I was the danger. At least she perceived me as such concerning Sofie.

“Could you please elaborate a bit further?” I squinted my eyes even more in anger.

“You are corrupting everyone … Tom, me … Arthur. And Sofie won´t be any exception to this rule. Do you really want her to grow up like you?” No, I didn’t want to put any child in the same position I was in, or still am.

“No … but-“ I uttered.

“No ‘but’. I know you like her, but you cannot be around her, especially because of her connection to the goddess of life. If you want her to be happy, to be normal, then you need to keep your distance for now. You know you would ruin your childhood, just like Aska ruined yours.” Mary claimed.

Reluctantly, I stood up, Sofie still in my arms. She looked at me cutely, without any fear at all. She was largely unique in that regard. Her mother certainly trembled as I walked over to her and stopped there for a second.

“If you truly think so mum … you are free little Sofie. I won't bother you anymore.”  I handed the baby over to her and proceeded to walk to the door.

“Lucinda, I know you want to eat something tasty. Shall we share my fish?” I wanted to. I really wanted to spend this night with Mary and Sofie, but I couldn’t bear to look into Mary´s eyes at all. My own mother, the person who opened her heart for me, perceived me as a threat to a baby.

“I´m not hungry anymore.” I said and left the room without any further word.