Vidya/Cathran's 28th Birthday

Vidya is standing over her mother's grave. The woman that brought her into this world and paid the ultimate price for it. Vidya normally can't feel much emotion since that fight against that swole dude, which started her in the path of awesome power that she never dreamed that she would have had. But despite this she has tears falling down her cheeks in sadness.

She logically knows that this means she would have been on her knees bawling if she hadn't lost some connection to her feelings, and although this concerns her, she ignores it for now. This is the time to remember her mother.

She wipes at her tears uselessly, before she says "I wish you were here, mother. I have come far, I hope you are proud of wherever you are. I have gained much power to further my ideals. Some have even been actually believing that I am truly a god. If you had lived, I probably would not be put on this path, your Sister and her husband were kind enough to raise me after your death and father leaving me out of grief. They raised me to value knowledge above all else and that's what I did." She wipes at her tears again, but they keep flowing down her face.

"I did it to the point that I didn't stop to value others as much as I should have and valued logic over feelings, something that was augmented when I gained this power. Now I don't know what to do mother. I wish you were here and I could have actually known you, your sister has told me many stories about you and you sound like you would have been a great mother to me. Your sister and her husband did their best but I wish I didn't have to settle for someone else's best, I wish I just could have had you to raise me. Dad had his chance to raise me but he threw it away."

Tears are now dripping onto the ground above her mother's grave. "I know you can't hear me and even if you could you wouldn't be able to let me know what you feel about me." Vidya closes her eyes and just feels the tears falling "I would cast a spell to learn what you think about me, but I know it would do more harm than good as well as it would disrupt your well earned eternal rest." Vidya clenched her fists as she was thinking.

"I probably won't be able to feel much if not nothing for the next week now because of this. I just wish I could know you were proud of me." Vidya remembers her mother's early years of her life when she was an alchemist as well. She was well known for it but Vidya had never deigned to take the surname her mother had used while adventuring because she didn't want to eclipse her mother's legacy by using it. She thinks about how painful her birthday is because it is the same day her mother died.

She opens her eyes and looks at the grave and puts the flowers that she had brought down on it. "Thank you mother for bringing me into this world, I will do your best to further your legacy by adding onto it with mine." Vidya smiles a sad smile and turns around to leave when she sees an elderly man that she recognizes as her father behind her.

He doesn't recognize his child as she is in her other form while in the graveyard. "How did you know her?" Vidya feigns ignorance as she asks her father the question. "She was the love of my life. She died giving birth and much to my shame I abandoned our child and had her sister raise her." Vidya nods and says to him "Did you ever learn what became of her?" He looks at her and says "Her name was Cathran, I don't know her last name because she didn't use mine and took one of her own, her aunt and uncle would never tell me what last name she ended up taking because they didn't want me to find her and inflict pain upon her. So I stopped looking. If I had a second chance I would go back and raise her myself despite the difficulties that there would have been."

The old man is crying as he keeps speaking as he reflects upon his greatest failure. Vidya nods to acknowledge what he said. The old man now feels the power radiating off of Vidya. He turns to her and says "You are not normal, you… your different, your radiating power off of you. Who are you and how would you have known her?" Vidya realizes that she will have to tell the truth and gulps before saying "I was her daughter" the old man seems bewildered at this statement

"But…. she never had a child before me… and she couldn't have had one after, being dead and all…" the realization dawns on him "Your, your, your Cathran." The old man hobbles over with his cane supporting him on the way. Vidya/Cathran nods in response. "Yes I am, I am Cathran Lorekeeper, although I have been going by a different name when I look like this now. Vidya, the goddess of Magic and Education" The old man hugs her and holds her close to him "I wish I could have known that you had developed into such a fine woman".

Vidya/Cathran nods "I am glad you are remorseful about what you did, but remember it doesn't change what you did. I hurt for a lot of years because of you, I can't feel much emotions because of the path I took, if you had raised me, I could have gone down a different path than this one." Cathran is choked up now saying this "I will not deny you the knowledge that you seek though. I do not forgive you for your actions, I wish I could, but I frankly can't. I do not have the means to do so anymore. I am glad you regretted it and did not forget me. I just hurt too much because of your choice to forgive you. I hope you understand".

The old man nods "I guess it was too much to hope for forgiveness, I just hope you continue to make me proud. I KNOW your mother would have been proud of you and how far you've gone." Vidya then walks away crying tears of pain, sadness, and rage as she leaves the graveyard. "I forgive you dad" She says quietly under her breath. "and Mom, I will never forget you".