Where Two Paths Diverge (Age of Adventurers)

I spent less and less time at home after they were born. It didn't help that I would always associate their first day of life with her last. They won't ever remember her, they never got to meet her. I do. I remember cold morning at home while he was still out adventuring. I remember snuggling under the blankets while she'd read to me. I remember the way she would pronounce her R's. I remember all of it.

I don't blame him. He had to suddenly take over being the mom in a sense. He didn't know her practicality. He didn't know just how warm to make hot chocolate in the winter. He didn't know what stories were my favorite. He didn't know how to be her. When Ceecee and Ally were born, it changed everything. He had to give up being an adventurer. She had to give up being our mom. I gave up being his son.

He showered them with attention. I would say I was going out and he would just nod and look at me, like he expected something from me. I would stay out late and come home and he'd have them tucked under his arms, dozing wherever he was sitting. He was a wonderful father for them. He would always read to them when they were old enough to enjoy the stories. He would tell them tales of his days as an adventurer, stories of massive dragons and terrible demons and the sort of stuff that used to exist. He was their dad. Their Papa.

I remember the look he gave me when I came home with the topknot. The only two types of people who would wear their hair up like that were the wannabes and the Tenshodo. He looked at me like... Like he was disappointed in me. That's fine. It only took him years to finally show it. I don't think he ever wanted me around. I wasn't his daughter. I wasn't his favorite. After Mom died things were never the same between me and him.

I remember back during our last Horror Festival I was dressed like my dad, the monster-slayer. I had on a replica Aketon for Bastok with a toy greataxe and everything. I was going to grow up to be just like my dad...

I don't need to be like him. I don't need the sanction of a nation to be somebody. I don't need to follow in his footsteps to change the world. I'm learning my own way in Bastok, and it has nothing to do with being a part of the Republic. Let him take care of his daughters. Let him be their Papa. I have my own family, and they actually care about me.