Life Giver

In the Sing household there was a large room towards the back of the house, half of this room housed bookshelves and desks full of neatly organised papers and books, while in the other half stood various Glass beakers and pieces of strange equipment.

This was Gloria's workroom, it was a combination of a laboratory and a study.

In a comfortable chair near the bookshelves was a m.a.t.u.r.e woman sitting with a frown on her face. She had shoulder length black hair, neatly kept in a ponytail, pale white skin, blue eyes and thick black rimmed glasses.

Gloria was currently wearing a thick black night robe as she had just woken up, she was thinking about her conversation with Elena yesterday.

'That boy is so silly... he just ran off somewhere yesterday after confessing to Elena... poor girl... *sigh* he's so sheltered... maybe I should tell him about his family... that might force him to m.a.t.u.r.e...' she thought

After Casmir had confessed to Elena yesterday she came here to ask Gloria what to do, this put her in an awkward position. She knew that Elena had feelings for Casmir but she didn't want Elena's relationship with Casmir to fall apart because a short love affair.

Gloria had a negative opinion of men, she saw them as selfish and manipulative, unfortunately because of some negative experiences when she was young, she had never given up her prejudice. However even though she thought badly of men, she loved Casmir, he was a good boy. He listened to her, didn't mess about and studied well, unfortunately he was now coming to an age where she believed he would sour and be full of l.u.s.tful thoughts.

She didn't want Elena, who was very pure hearted to be hurt by him.

*knock* *knock*

Suddenly, as Gloria was lost in thought, there was a knock at the door, it gently opened as Casmir walked in.

"Mother..?" Casmir called out as he stepped in the room, closing the door behind him.

Gloria was woken from her thoughts, she decided to give Casmir a good talking to. She was clearly more concerned with defending Elena than comforting Casmir who may be heartbroken.

"Ah, Casmir. Good timing, I wanted to talk to you about how you treated Elena yesterday. What were you thinking? The poor girl was dumbstruck by you, I want you to immediately go and apologise to her you...." Gloria started lecturing Casmir before he even got a word in.

Casmir felt annoyed and just wanted to ask about his father, so he smiled awkwardly letting Gloria finish her rant.

This was simply how Gloria was, she wouldn't let you get a word in until she finished what she wanted to say, you could only agree with her or you would grow old before you heard the end of it.

As Gloria finished lecturing Casmir he quickly spoke, before Gloria found something else to say.

"Mom, I know I was an idiot yesterday, I'm going to talk to Elena later, don't worry."

Gloria smiled happily.

"Good, you've always been a good boy. Now, did you need anything?" she questioned.

Casmir walked over and sat down in a chair next to Gloria.

"Actually I have something a little serious to ask you..." he said nervously.

Gloria sat up, Casmir didn't ask for much and she was never very attentive to him which made her feel guilty and so she tried to help him whenever he asked for something.

"... Could you tell me about my father...? Do I have any siblings?" Casmir asked gently with expectation in his eyes.

Gloria was dumbstruck.

'SUGAR! What the hell do I do... Erm... Do I have to tell him now....? Delay! Delay!'

"Why are you asking about this... you know I don't really know your father well....." Gloria said while averted her eyes.

Casmir moved forward in his seat eagerly.

"Please mom, I just want to know who he is... I want to know if I have any siblings..." he said pitifully.

Gloria slouched back in her seat, she realised it was too late now, she had delayed for too long and it would only hurt them both if she delayed further but she was incredibly worried about telling him.

Casmir had taken note of her reaction and knew something was off but he understood, this was an awkward situation to be in. If his father did truly come from a short relationship, he could understand his mother's reluctance to the subject.

"Casmir... " Gloria sat up and looked at Casmir nervously.

"What I'm about to tell you might be hard to accept... but I think you should know..."

Gloria wasn't going to lecture him about this, in fact she was so nervous and guilty that she could barely get her words out.

"I-I.. don't know your father. I know you have a sister but I can't tell you where she is or even if she's still alive.."

Casmir was shocked but before he could react he was hit with another bombshell.

"The reason I can't tell you is because I'm not your mother... you're my adopted son.... I-I..."

Gloria nervously looked at Casmir, she didn't know what to expect but as she watched Casmir's dazed look and how he simply fell back in his chair not speaking, she felt her heart drop.

Even though Casmir was not her child she still cared for him, she had fed him, played with him and taught him for a long time. Elena did a lot of the work but Gloria was still very attached to him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner Casmir but it's complicated, your mother gave you to me out of the blue. When you saw me you called me mommy, I don't know why, I don't look anything like your mother but when you looked at me I just didn't have the heart to tell you no...." Gloria said emotionally.

As Gloria went on, Casmir grew increasingly confused and angry, he started questioning her back and raising his tone.

"What do you mean my mother gave me to you out of the blue? What about my father?"

Gloria started feeling increasingly guilty and upset under Casmir's pressuring gaze.

"W-well I don't know who your father is... Y-your mother was a friend of mine when I was y-younger but we hadn't spoken for years and suddenly Elena turns up at my doorstep with you in hand and a note from your m-mother... "

Upon hearing that Elena knew about this as well, Casmir felt increasingly Isolated and lonely.

"What! Elena knows about this as well?!" Casmir shouted.

"W-well no..." Gloria said quietly

"Also what do you mean you don't know my father, I thought you knew my mother. Tell me the truth! You're suppose to know this stuff!" Casmir shouted, becoming increasingly erratic.

At this point Casmir was basically shouting at Gloria, she was never good at confrontations so she started panicking and felt threatened by Casmir.

Her usual strict and cold demeanour had been shattered, replaced with one resembling a scared young girl.

"C-Calm down Casmir... I-I.. know it's a lot to take in.." Gloria said as she sunk into her chair.

Casmir stood up looking at Gloria in anger as the pressure of everything that had happened to him recently erupted, with it's only outlet being Gloria.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN CALM DOWN! JUST TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW!" Casmir shouted in anger.

Casmir's body was shaking, he felt his heart beating rapidly.

Gloria wasn't any better, she was shaking and confused, no one had talked to her like this before.

Gloria simply didn't understand what to do.

"... I-I'm sorry... y-your mother was a quiet person... I-I just tried to look after you..." she said grasping at straws, trying to find an excuse for herself.

*sob* *sob*

Gloria finally lost control of her emotions and began sobbing, she tried to wipe away her tears but she ended up simply covering her face with her hands.

Casmir didn't realise what he had done, as he saw his mother crying he snapped out of his anger, he had never seen Gloria cry, she was always a strict mountain in front of him, barely showing a smile.

Casmir froze for a moment unsure of what to do, eventually he walked over to try and comfort his mother but she seemed to get increasingly erratic as he approached her.

"... *sob* no... I-I'm sorry *sob* stay back..." Gloria said as she waved one of her arms at Casmir

Casmir didn't understand, he didn't know that Gloria was afraid of men. As something she feared, naturally she didn't want to admit to it however Casmir didn't want to just stand there and watch, so he ignored Gloria's words and knelt down next to Gloria's chair, forcefully wrapping his arms around her.

"... *sob* stop... stay away from me! .... let go...*sob*" she cried, clearly in a far worse state than Casmir.

Casmir just held Gloria as he pressed the side of his head against hers, as much as he wanted to comfort her, this was also a comfort for himself...

Gloria had always been afraid of men and after being pressured by Casmir, whom she loved, to tell him about his past, which she barely knew anything about, she couldn't control herself.

She felt tremendously guilty and nervous, her body shivered as Casmir held her tightly, at first she felt suffocated and afraid but as she started to calm down she also wrapped her arms around Casmir as she cried.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you..." Casmir said

"*sob* I'm sorry too...*sob*" Gloria mumbled

They held each other for over ten minutes as Gloria sobbed, she tried to steady her erratic breathing as they apologised to each other continuously.

Eventually Gloria calmed down but before Casmir could say anything else, Gloria forced Casmir to sit down, she then stood up and while still recovering she began lecturing him about what had happened to her.

"Listen *sniffle*, I knew your mother since I was 13 years old *sniffle* we met at...." Gloria began to described her relationship with Casmir's mother.

Even though her cheeks were still red and her eyes swollen she continued to lecture Casmir and all he could do was nod and meekly sit in her chair, afraid of upsetting her further.

Over time he gradually started to come to an understanding about his mother and what happened to him as a child...

======

Casmir's mother was a beautiful and strong woman who was originally from a large Kingdom in the north, Gloria was unsure which one she was from but she knew her name was Alexandra Helena. She lived in Ellaris for six years, she studied at the same university as Gloria and she was an outstanding Qi Warrior. By the time she was 19 she was a third grade Qi Warrior and a second Grade Qi scholar in the field of botany.

Because of her outstanding talent and beauty she was chased by many men but instead of simply declining them she just beat them up, which is how she met Gloria. Alexandra beat up a few guys who were harassing her, Gloria couldn't handle herself around men and so from that day she followed Alexandra around, men seemed to avoid Alexandra like the plague.

Just after Alexandra's 20 birthday, she disappeared, she wrote a letter telling Gloria she had to return home and although Alexandra sent a few letters over the years, she never returned to Ellaris.

Through those letters, Gloria learnt that Alexandra had a baby girl named Eliza and a boy named Casmir, 11 years after she left Ellaris, Casmir and Elena suddenly showed up at Gloria's door. According to a letter Elena handed to her, Alexandra feared for Casmir's safety and so she sent a trusted servant's young daughter, Elena, with Casmir to travel here.

According to what Elena said at the time they travelled there on a 'Big Bird', probably a plane, and was then guided by a 'Rock Man' to Gloria's address. Soon after they arrived Gloria learned that Alexandra had died via a letter delivered by an Earthen Golem, presumably the same one who guided Elena and Casmir to Gloria's house.

======

"...and your mother never mentioned your father in her letters at all, I still have them if you want to look through them." Gloria finished, clearly she had calmed down however her cheeks and eyes were still red.

Gloria breathed heavily after finishing, she had spoken for over 15 minutes which helped her vent her feelings and calm down.

Casmir tried to apologise for earlier after realising that Gloria had calmed down somewhat.

"Thank you mom, I'm sorry I got angry it's just... well I don't know.. sorry..." Casmir said with guilt.

Casmir then got up and hugged Gloria again.

Gloria first felt tense but gradually lent her body onto Casmir's. She felt very warm in his embrace, because of her outburst she felt tired and just wanted to close her eyes and fall asleep.

"Casmir, I know this might be hard but can you just call me Gloria from now on. I've always felt guilty being called mother by you." Gloria said.

Casmir felt reluctant, he knew she was right but couldn't help feeling as if he had lost something because of it.

"Okay.. Gloria." Casmir said reluctantly as he broke his hug with Gloria.

After they let go of each other, they stood in front of each other awkwardly, neither of them sure what to do.

Casmir suddenly remembered the other reason he came to Gloria today, he then awkwardly brought it up.

"Gloria.. Erm... do you have the equipment here to test fertility?"

Casmir was fully aware that she did but didn't know how to bring it up.

Gloria was confused at his sudden question but nodded in response.

"Well... Erm... can you test my fertility.... I went to... never mind, can you just test it for me?" He said awkwardly.

Gloria's face flushed red in response to Casmir's request, she rarely had s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e conversations with Casmir and now they were talking about his fertility.

"Oh my.... I guess I could.... but I need some.... you know...." Gloria said, unwilling to finish her sentence.

Before Gloria could finish, Casmir pulled out a small vial containing a white liquid.

"I know... I prepared some earlier...." Casmir said as he blushed.

"Well, I'll leave you to your work. I need to go now..." Casmir said as he awkwardly rushed towards the door.

"Wait, Casmir." Gloria called out.

Casmir turned around, responding with a "Yes?"

Gloria smiled at him, she felt relieved.

"I'm sorry I never told you, but I'm glad that I did today. Thank you for earlier, you can come talk to me at any time..."

Casmir smiled back, before leaving...