Hideka hugged Az from behind before he could go down the stairs. "Hideka, as I promised, I will visit you one day again," Az whispered to her before she released him.
Az slowly walked down the cold marble steps, which had small cracks. 'The tower is much more of a cage for her. I hope she won't be angry with me when she finds out the truth about me. But anyway, by the time she finds out, I'll be long gone.'
Someone, with whom Hideka was very familiar, was waiting downstairs. His new appearance shocked Az. In front of him stood the real Satoshi instead of just a pile of bones.
"Dad, why do you look so serious? Did I do something wrong?" Hideka asked, standing at the top of the stairs.
Satoshi just shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. He had pitch-black hair but the same eyes as his daughter. His skin was pale white, and he was formally dressed.
"No, my sweet daughter. Please stay upstairs. I'll come up to you since I just want to talk with you?," Satoshi replied as the sound of his individual footsteps could be heard echoing softly off the walls.
Before reaching the top, Satoshi whispered, "Please put on the blindfold for a moment."
Hideka just looked at her father in confusion before whispering, "Why? I want to keep looking at my father."
"Sit on the step and do it for your father, please," Satoshi whispered, and she did as instructed with a sigh.
Satoshi knelt one step below her and lightly stroked his cold fingers out of bone across her cheek.
"Papa? Why is your hand so cold and why does it feel as if it's out of bones?" asked Hideka as she grabbed her blindfold.
"Please don't remove the blindfold, or our conversation will end here," Satoshi told her with a stern tone. Hideka did as she was ordered.
Satoshi lightly pressed his cold forehead against his daughter's.
"So, my daughter, please listen carefully. Your father will be leaving for a long time, and your mother will be taking care of you soon. I will gift you something with which you can find me when you are strong and mature enough," Satoshi whispered.
Hideka began to sob under her blindfold.
"Why, father? Why…?" she whispered as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Silence befell on the Marmor Stairs, Hideka wiped the salty drop and spoke again.
"Why are you leaving me again? You never once tried to act like a father. I only get to see you once in several months and now... you are abandoning me again? What am I to you?" The young mage asked, her voice cracking in disappointment.
Hideka once again turned silent, she took deep breaths. Big enough to be heard by others, she raised her head to look at her father, who seemed to be unflinching and untouched.
"You gave me everything that is needed to survive, everything except warmth, everything but affection."
At this point, Hideka's tone changed. Her voice was not soft and breaking but loud and thundering, aiming to tear the skies apart.
"I did my best to get your attention. I did my best to hear at least once in my life, the words, "[I'm proud of you, I love you]. I've even become one of the best students in my class. But you never even attended one of the child-parent activities. You don't even realize how much it hurt me, seeing how you chose your stupid experiments over me." Hideka sobbed, with each word, her suppressed anger and rage became more noticeable.
"I'm sorry I could never be a real father in your life. I tried to give you everything I could never get. From food to a roof under your head so you never have to live in misery as I did, all the way to a chance at a career without too many problems. It's hard for me to give you things I never knew myself. I can hardly give you love and attention because I never received it either," Satoshi whispered softly while wiping away her tears.
Hideka slapped his hands away.
"Your shitty past is no excuse. You could have at least tried to spend time with me, read me stories, or taught me some magic lessons. But instead of that, you locked yourself in the basement and neglected me," Hideka finished and her eyes slowly turned blood red.
"You want to know what should be embarrassing to you? That a damn kid around my age has given me more affection in one day than you've shown me in my entire life. Instead of you, I'd rather find him for comfort," she cursed, ripping off her blindfold.
Satoshi couldn't stop her from ripping it off, and Hideka started to scream, seeing what was truly in front of her.
"My daughter no...," before Satoshi could say any more Hideka, completely horrified kicked him down the stairs.
The sound of Satoshi's bones falling down the staircase could be heard. At the bottom, Az grabbed Satoshi's skull with a sigh and muttered,"[Awaken my skeleton warrior]."
Hideka on the other hand, ran down whispering: "I'm sorry."
Slowly, the bones settled into their original form, and Satoshi stood up silently.
"Az, what's happening, and what are you doing?" asked Hideka, sobbing with fear.
"Something that should never have happened," Az sighed before continuing with, "Your mother should come soon. Don't worry, it won't be the last time we'll see each other."
"I'm sorry that I forced you to wear a blindfold. I just didn't want you to see your father becoming an undead minion," Satoshi whispered as tears began to start rolling his face.
At that moment, Satoshi realized that there was no need to keep up the illusion of him still being a human.
Hideka felt bad at the sight of her dad crying and gave him a hug.
"I'm sorry dad. I didn't know that you ended up like that," she whispered while pressing his cold bones against her warm body.
Tears continued to roll down her face, but this time not out of anger but out of shame.
"I made many grave mistakes my dear daughter. I'm sorry for neglecting you, and I'm sorry for trying to trick you into believing that I still was a human. I feared that my own daughter would no longer accept me as her father after seeing what I've become," Satoshi sobbed while pressing her tightly.
"It's ok dad. I'm sorry for being so selfish and only thinking of myself," she sobbed. "No that's ok. It's my fault for neglecting you," Satoshi continued to sob.
Thx for the chapter!