"Okay… calm down," I muttered, slipping behind her at my full speed and grabbing both of her wrists, and placing my chin on the top of her head.

Just by looking at her face, it was clear she was getting angry. Her breathing also reflected her agitated state as she heaved and huffing with an almost red cloud coming from her mouth. So, I took this chance to immediately calm her down with a few consoling words.

Her grip on the handle of the sword was so strong that I had a hard time peeling it off, but after whispering a few sweet words into her left ear, she slowly let go. Her wrists eased, and those tensed fingers of hers relaxed.

"Huff… huff… huff…" And as soon as her breathing had slowed, she looked up at me with a pouty look. "Can't you hold back more? I can barely even land a hit on you… it's so fucking unfair!" She shouted.

Normally, I would have reprimanded her for cursing, but I had already bullied her enough with this match, so I decided to just slowly comfort her to relaxation.

…

"Mom, are you sure this is safe?" Ada asked, lying down in the middle of the circle formed by burning candles. Their fiery wicks released a scent of pumpkin spice into the air, something I knew she liked, and I assumed would comfort her… but I guess the situation was just a bit too awkward for that to even have an effect.

"Sweetie, just relax," I smiled, trying to ignore the fact that this looked like some kind of demonic ritual. But if it meant I could protect my daughter and my family, I would even be willing to fall to hell.

Although, I think I might be doing that already.

"Mom… is this seriously okay?" She questioned once again, but this time I ignored her and sat right behind her in the circle of candles. My dress gracefully scooped under my legs as I sat down on the flawlessly soft carpet, which was bound to have mold growing in it. I mean, you can't have a carpet this fluffy and soft without having even the smallest, little itty-bitty organism growing inside of it. "Hello~ are you okay?"

"O-Oh yeah, I was just observing the carpet. It's pretty soft, isn't it? Would you like something like this in your room?"

"Mom, can we just get this over with? Stop stalling and let's get on with it," My daughter rolled her eyes, and as I stumbled to place my hands on her shoulders, I felt a hand graze the top of my head. It was dark and eerie, like death was currently watching over me.

Slowly, I turned my head backward, only to find nothing there. And after triple checking that nobody was in the room, I returned back to my daughter and placed my hands on her shoulders yet again. She squirmed at the tight grip I held onto her, but as soon as magic automatically began to flow through me, her muscles softened, and her consciousness slowly drifted away.

"I know you're watching me, Miss. What do I do now?" I talked into the darkness of my room, only scarcely lit by the glowing aura of the candles surrounding us. It was almost torturous waiting for a response, unsure of whether somebody would pop out of the darkness to tell me or lightly whisper it into my ear.

But, contrary to what I had thought, the darkness around me slowly lifted, and a white room enveloped me. It was bright. Way too bright. Almost like I was standing in the middle of a white sun.

The room around me had disappeared, and the only thing in my vicinity was my daughter and the seven candles lining around us. A lingering scent of floral sweetness swept past my nostrils as I looked upwards, watching an angelic yet demonic figure descend from the whiteness above. And the scent only continued to linger as she slowly drifted in front of me.

"Your daughter is adorable," The woman smiled, slowly crouching down to meet my unconscious daughter eye to eye. She gave off a creepy vibe that made me immediately want to leave or escape, yet I knew that such a thing was impossible. I was at this woman's mercy.

"Can we just get this over with," I groaned whilst rolling my eyes. The woman took note of this but decided to just ignore it, only giving me a cheeky smile as she walked to the space behind me.

Unfortunately, I couldn't move. Like, at all. And it wasn't like it was just me and my daughter that was stuck in place, but also the candles. Their flames were frozen in time, their wispy shape holding still as the woman blew on them.

Time and existence were frozen around us, all except for the goddess above all else. It was humiliating feeling her eyes wrap around me whilst her fingers slowly trailed up my neck and to my cheeks. She lightly squeezed them before lightly shaking my head from side to side.

"Please just hurry up…." I groaned yet again.

Strangely, I was still able to talk despite everything being frozen, but just judging from how my internals felt mushy and numb, I knew activating skills would be impossible. It was almost like she defied existence itself just to let me talk while still somehow keeping me alive.

"You remind me of your mother… so soft and kind, but also ferocious when she needs to be. I'm sorry for taking her away from you when you were so young and vulnerable. If only I knew you would turn out so strong… I would have done it earlier," The woman chuckled.

As her words struck my brain like the clashing of a mallet hitting a base drum, I attempted to speak up, yet this time my mouth was frozen, only my brain working to process just what was happening.

"Don't worry, I'm still here to take back my shard… just, I felt a bit guilty for not telling you," She lightly chuckled yet again before placing her palm on the top of my head.

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