Chapter 147 That“s all that you have?
[[[10 minutes later.]]]
Lauren could not believe it.
Her father, who had left her and her sister 5 years ago, actually had the gall to come back here, right when they were having a major problem against the Pantheon!
Lauren was not sure on how her father found out that Signum was Lauren, but she knew that her father did something to discover her.
"…." When she reached this thought, Lauren could not help but clench her fists so hard that her fingernails started to wound her palms.
Even right now, Lauren could still remember it.
She could remember the sudden disappearance of her father, and the extremely difficult days that followed his disappearance.
Lauren could still remember Lara"s cries for their missing father, along with days of them being unable to eat anything.
Lauren remembered the crimes that she did just to provide for the two of them, along with her younger sister asking if their father left them because they were useless.
That only served to make the despair between Lauren and Lara deeper at that time, and she almost thought that they would not make it out of the pit they were left in.
Fortunately for them, her father"s sister reluctantly took care of them, which allowed the two of them to thrive to this day.
"Should we really hear him out?" Lauren muttered as she glared at her father, who seemed unrepentant on what he did. "He could be just scamming us now!"
"I"m really sorry Signum, but Alina told me that Andrew Collins is telling the truth about him knowing something about the Legacy." Lauren heard Alex replying apologetically. "I"m really sorry if it had to be like this. If you want, you can go join your sister while we talk to him."
"No. I will stay here." Lauren replied, as she felt surprised with the intensity of her reply. "This is just my hunch, but maybe this Legacy was one of the reasons father left us. I… I want to know why he abandoned us."
"Lauren, I never abandoned you!" Her father suddenly said as he overheard what Lauren was talking about. "I… I just have to hide to keep myself safe! That"s it!"
"…" Even if he did not show it, Lauren was sure that Alex was looking at her father with a displeased expression.
"Quit yapping there and just start talking." Alex said as he sat on a comfy chair, with Alina sitting beside him.
The two of them looked like the perfect pair, as if they were meant for each other.
"…" Lauren ignored the slight disgruntling sensation that she felt as she looked at the other people around her.
She could feel Queen Mother"s presence behind her, as Queen Mother"s body was sitting very close to her. Lauren tried to ignored the warm, refres.h.i.+ng scent coming out of Queen Mother as she focused on the current situation.
By swiveling her head a little, she could see Professor Frances and her allies just sitting behind Alex, and from the way they moved, it was as if they were here to watch a show.
The professor was even holding a bag of popcorn in her hands, which she used to eat popcorn which produced an audible and irritating crunch in the whole room.
"Crunch, crunch."
Lauren was not sure on what to think of the Alchemists.
Sure, they already knew her ident.i.ty before and might have attempted to attack her, but they seemed to be honorable enough to honor a truce with Alex.
But even if they were like that, Lauren was still wary of them, as villains will always be villains, no matter what they do.
"Wait, but technically speaking, the Travelers are a villain group now too with the stunt that they did." Lauren thought to herself as she winced inwardly, as she remembered the piping hot mess that she was in now.
"Grrr…"
Before Lauren could start self-combusting with countless worrying thoughts, Alex started to talk, which prompted Lauren to listen.
"First things first. How were you able to find us here, and how were you able to know that we are looking for the Legacy of Tartaros?" Alex said as she crossed his tentacles around him, creating an extremely menacing image which made her father looked quite scared.
Lauren might not be a fan of those tentacles, but right now, seeing those tentacles unnerve her father made them look more acceptable now.
"I.. I have to explain everything from the top." Her father said as he gave a hesitant gaze to Lauren.
Lauren"s only reply to that gaze was a glare full of anger.
"In that case, make sure that you will tell us the truth, and nothing but the truth." Alex drawled as one of this tentacles moved forward, wrapping her father"s torso with ease. "I have someone here who can detect lies, and I wish that you will not try lying to know that I am serious with my threat."
Lauren then heard some popping sounds as Alex started tightening his wrap on her father"s torso, which elicited panic from her father.
Ok, this time, Lauren was sure that she loves tentacles already.
"Ok, ok! I will not lie!" Her father replied as he nodded profusely. "I will tell the truth, and nothing but the truth!"
"Start talking then." Alex said with finality as he withdrew his tentacle, leaving her father gasping for breath.
"…My life before was just like a normal person." Her father started saying as he wiped some sweat off his forehead. "I have a family that I take care of, and a business which I am thriving in. My life back then…was really great."
When she heard what her father just said, Lauren started to see red as she became extremely enraged.
Her father"s life back then was great? If that was really the case, then why did he abandon them? Was it because he was bored of them already? Or was it because he left them for another family?
Whatever the reason was, Lauren was sure that she had to land in a hit towards her father.
"Calm down Lauren. I can see your rage." Before Lauren could make her move, she saw Alex"s worried gaze landing on her. "If you feel hurt by your father talking here, you can still leave the room. Do not worry , we will tell about what your father said later."
"Just go on." Lauren replied as she took some deep breaths to calm herself down. "I can do this."
"Ok then." If there was one thing that Lauren liked from Alex, it was the fact that he trusts his friends. People rarely do that, and even Lauren herself was sure she was not capable of such kind of thinking.
"As I said earlier, I lived a normal and great life." Her father continued talking as he started looking down. "But all of that changed 5 years ago."
"Here it is." Lauren thought to herself as she gazed at her father intently.
"I can still remember it." Her father said as he seemed to wear a reminiscent expression on his face. "I was having a picnic with Lauren and Lara 5 years ago, and during that picnic, I slipped, and my head hit a nearby wall. That hit did not only bring me pain. It also brought me something different."
Even if Lauren was trying to block the painful memories of her past, she knew what her father was talking about.
That picnic that he just mentioned happened the day before her father disappeared. Even now, Lauren could remember her sister"s happy expression during that picnic.
It hurt Lauren when she remembered that it took her sister a long time to regain that happiness.
"So, what else did that hit on the wall give you?" Lauren heard Alex asking with a curious expression on his face.
"I… started having these flashes of memories." Her father replied as he let out a shuddering breath. "These flashes of memories were all limited, and I only gained a small amount of information from them."
"And what is this limited information, if I may ask?" Even if he tried to hide it, Lauren was sure that Alex was extremely excited right now with what her father was saying.
Lauren was not sure on what to feel by that, as she did not want Alex thinking of her father in a favorable light.
"In those flashes of memories, I can remember myself tied to a chair." Her father replied as his face started to look pale. "While I was tied to that chair, there was a group of people talking in front of me. They all looked powerful, and they seemed to be extremely serious. But aside from that, I can remember them looking extremely alike the Pantheon members!"
At this point, her father started hyperventilating, as if the mere act of remembering these memory flashes were too much for him.
"While I was tied in that chair, they…. they were arguing if they should kill me!" Her father said as he began to tremble. "In their talks, I heard them saying that my connection to the Legacy of Tartaros was the reason they captured me! And at that time, they were thinking of killing me because of that connection!"
Her father"s body seemed to look unstable at this point, with his face full of sweat.
"I do not know any kind of connection that I could have with the Legacy." Her father replied as his breathing quickened. "The only thing that I know is that the Pantheon captured me for that connection, and they seemed to want to kill me. I… I was lucky that I survived, but I do have no memories showing me on how I am still alive until now."
"…."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…So, that is all that you can remember?" Alex said as her father seemed to have lost his strength to talk.
"Yes, that is all that I can see from those flashes of memories." Her father replied as he looked up to Alex timidly.
"He"s telling the truth." Lauren heard Alina declaring, which elicited an irritated sigh from Alex.
"So, let me get this straight." Alex said as he raised all of his tentacles off the floor. "You seemed to have an encounter with the Pantheon many years ago, maybe even before you got your family. You somehow survived the encounter with them, but you also forgot about it. It was only five years ago when you hit your head in the wall that you managed to remember some flashes of your encounter with the Pantheon. That is all that happened, right?"
"Exactly, exactly!" Her father replied in a relieved tone, as if he just found his Messiah.
"…"
An awkward silence then followed that conversation, as if both sides were waiting for the other person to talk.
When the waiting time became too unbearable already, it was Alex who talked, and there was a tinge of disbelief in his voice as he said,
"Wait, so that is all the info that you have about the Legacy of Tartaros? Please tell me you have something hidden yet."
"...That is all that I know." Her father replied as he seemed to be oblivious of the sudden change in the atmosphere.
"He"s telling the truth." Even Alina was looking p.i.s.sed now, and Lauren could not actually blame Alina for thinking like this now.
"You little s**t!" That was what Alex said he seemed intent on crus.h.i.+ng ] her father whole. "You came here pompously while making your abandoned daughter remember her trauma, and all the info that you gave me was just that? You did not even tell us why you abandoned your daughters! You just told us that s.h.i.+tty info, and you stopped talking there! Are you r.e.t.a.r.ded? Or do you want to just die?"
"Please hear me out more!" Her father cried out as he seemed to have realized what was happening now. "I-I-I can still help out with you looking for the Legacy! Just… let me do it with you all!"
"Hmph, continue your story first." That was Alex"s reply as he gave her father a sneer. "Tell us everything that you did after you saw those memory flashes. Tell everything that you did up until this day. Maybe we will hear you out after hearing you say those things."
"Yes, talk about those things." Lauren said before her father could say something else. "If you don"t talk about it, I will make sure that you will not come back here anymore!"
"Ok…"