Divine Beast Ascension

Chapter 179: Puula’s Realization

“That’s right. I finally opened up to her about my mother and her father... For once, I felt she wasn’t just listening to me but actively taking in everything that I was saying... At the same time, it had been a long time since we embraced and leaned on each other as mother and daughter,” explained Puula.

“That’s great! So you opened up to her and she opened up in response?”

“She started to, but she closed up again before we finished talking... She won’t even listen after I’m finally vulnerable in front of her...”

Thinking to herself, Ania quickly pondered what Puula’s and Netra’s conversation might’ve entailed. Considering the recent incident about a betrothal and Netra’s personality in class, Ania began to deduce her own hypothesis. “Perhaps if I knew the topic of your chat I could help a bit more?”

“It was...” Puula paused suddenly, leaving an awkward silence hanging in the air for a few seconds. “On second thought, I think I may have overreacted is all.”

“What’s wrong, Puula?”

“Nothing. I–”

.....

“You know any experienced mother can tell the difference between a hesitant stare and a confident one,” stated Ania. “So why are you hesitant to talk now, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Puula tightened her grasp on emotions again. “I likely touched on a sensitive topic and regressed from the progress I had made.”

“Oh, if that’s so, then try and correct yourself,” replied Ania. “You don’t necessarily need to claim that you were wrong, but you need to at least acknowledge your daughter’s argument, which becomes extremely difficult while discussing something sensitive.”

“Thank you... That’s something I need to practice.”

“You’re welcome, and don’t feel too downtrodden about it. I can’t tell you how often I failed to do that with Oli.”

“Really? Then how–”

“Oli was the one who taught me that,” added Ania, startling the fox chief. “He didn’t tell me directly, but it was something I figure out after he kept doing it to me... He’s more intelligent than I had ever imagined.”

Puula sighed with a smile. “Wow... Oli spoiled you as a mother.”

“Maybe... I hadn’t thought about it that way... Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

“Um, no. I believe that’s everything I wanted to ask you at the moment,” responded Puula.

“Have you thought about how I can repay you for the Ever-life Sap?”

“That... Actually...” Stopping herself, Puula thought of something, albeit unorthodox. “Ania... I’m sure you had noticed Netra’s strange infatuation with your son, right?”

“Yes, I’ve seen it.”

“Well... Can I ask you to help convince Netra to move on?”

“Uh... Puula–”

“I don’t mean move on as if Oli has died, but to move on as seeking a relationship with Oli wouldn’t work out for either of them in the end,” Puula immediately clarified. “Neither of them is compatible with the other, so why should we encourage such a relationship, even if your son is a phenomenal talent with an impressive future ahead of him?”

Ania’s feelings were bandaged by Puula’s clarification but her face showed no change in tension. She struggled to think of a fast response.

“Ania, don’t tell me you support such a relationship?!” Puula was astounded by Ania’s lack of an answer.

“It’s not that I support it... I just trust my son to make the correct decision in the end.”

“But do you consider them being mates as a promising future? To have a gorilla with earth essence take a fox with dark essence? That makes no sense. How can you justify letting them consider such a relationship?”

“That... That’s not something I’m entirely comfortable discussing right now,” replied Ania.

“Well, can you at least clarify how you feel about the matter? Because I don’t see any reason to let her entertain such thoughts. And I see you as a very sensible mother, so it’s shocking that you aren’t denouncing them outright.”

“It’s not that, Puula...” Ania sighed, piecing her words together as best she could for the awkward topic. “It’s... It’s hard to explain my thoughts without great thought.”

“Well... I wouldn’t mind waiting if that’s alright with you,” mentioned Puula, sensing a strange tension in Ania’s voice.

Neither said another word, letting a few moments go by in silence.

Those moments gave both women time to think, something that Ania desperately needed to try and get out of the topic at hand. But before a logical explanation was drafted in Ania’s mind, Puula’s gaze flinched and she slowly got to her feet.

“Puula, what’s the matter?”

“I’m going to close the doors.”

The fox shut the doors on all four sides of the room and slowly returned to her seat. Her eyes had changed as well, showing a new emotion that was too coherent for Ania to directly recognize. Then, Puula swiped one of her tails under the short table at the center of those cushions, activating a formation that Ania had become quite familiar with.

Finally, Puula took a deep breath and spoke slowly and steadily, “Ania... I’m going to ask you a rare question, a question that I don’t previously know the answer to. This question may be overly personal and uncomfortable to answer, but I feel my reasoning for asking is justified.”

“Go ahead Puula,” stated Ania, easily noticing the shift in their conversation. “I can’t promise to answer something too private, but I can at least promise to hear out your question since you’ve bothered to keep this conversation just between the two of us.”

Pulla nodded. She took another deep breath, exhaling slowly. Her thoughts had somehow taken her back to a long-ago conversation with Netra. At first, Puula was unsure why that conversation had come to her mind, however, one small, overlooked detail was enough to possibly change everything. It was ludicrous to believe. Yet Puula was unable to ignore it after witnessing her daughter’s reluctance to change and Ania’s startling response to Netra’s and Oli’s relationship. Upon possibly connecting the faint dots of her logic, Puula had to ask.

“Did Oli have dark essence? Yes or no?”