Father's Gift

"Here it is!" exclaimed Virginia at the Boot Hill Cemetery, "A letter, along with another flower. My Daddy loved my Mother so much. Let me see..." She began to read it, and found out her father was going to Mimir's Well, the connection point to Hyadas. The warriors were even provided with the coordinates, so they could follow. Immediately, they ran for Lombardia. The team took off, heading to follow Werner's trail.

"I wonder, what could those kids be up to? And why was that letter on Ekatrina's grave?" Shalte asked of her husband. Tesla just shrugged, he had no idea himself. Could it have something to do with the reason the girl had gotten so upset when they talked? Or why they were involved in the Council of Seven?"

. . .

After arriving at Mimir's Well, they found Werner unconscious. Virginia tried to pick him up, to help him to his feet again, when her hands went through his body. Everyone else was shocked at this, what in the world did Beatrice do to him. She appeared, laughing at them. Virginia yelled, "You'll pay for this! I know you've done something to my father, and I'll kill you for it." She was fighting back tears, he couldn't leave her now. And Beatrice's laughter made it all the worse for her, the Demon was enjoying her pain and sorrow. Jet reached for Airget-lamh, wanting to shoot the witch full of holes for hurting Virginia like she did.

Beatrice looked from father to daughter, and gave the girl a wicked smile. "I still can't believe you call that phony over there 'Daddy'. I guess it's just because you're human, a sentimental fool. But that has no value in my world. Here, take this key. It will get you into my Castle of Dreams. I'm planning a grand ball to celebrate the creation of my own Filgaia, and all of you are invited. Don't be late, it's not polite to let your hostess stand around waiting for you." With that, she teleported out, still laughing at Virginia's pains.

"Daddy?" asked Virginia, "What is she talking about? Please, tell me. You've never answered my questions, I would like to know everything." Tears were in her eyes, as she looked to Werner to beg him to tell her what happened to him. He looked pained himself, it seemed to hurt him to speak to her of this now.

"Virginia, I'm not your real father. The real Werner Maxwell died in the Yggdrasil explosion. In his final moments, he was able to activate the memory device he'd been working on for several weeks, a way to use your own memories to form a hologram of yourself using the technology of Hyadas. In that way, he created me to restitute for his sins. I'm nothing more than a ghost from the past, kept here only by the will to do the right thing. But through it all, I couldn't stop caring about you or your mother, for the memories of the original Werner Maxwell are ingrained in my brain," he told her, hanging his head low in sorrow of this.

Virginia yelled, "That doesn't matter to me, Daddy. You may be a ghost, or a copy, but you're still my father. You saved me and Jet when we would have died, protected us from the world by placing us in a laboratory where we'd make a full recovery. Besides, you love me, and that's the thing I loved most about my Daddy. You've done nothing wrong, everything was an accident, caused by Beatrice for her own plans."

Werner smiled at her. "You still think of me as your father, even after hearing all this. But we don't have much time, I must turn off the connection to Hyadas. With it off, Beatrice will not be able to find a new vessel, since the library's power will be weaker. If she has any vessels now, though, she will be able to get to them. So you might have to search around a little bit. But once I do that, I too will fade away for good."

"But Daddy!" exclaimed Virginia, "You can't do that, you can't leave me all alone once again. Just when we've finally found one another, you're going to go away and die on me. There's no way I can bear it."

"That's our only hope! Besides, the suspension pod that sustains me was damaged when our little friend over there decided to have some fun with me. I'm dying anyway, so please, come with me and help me to stop her once and for all," Werner begged. With that, they walked through the facility, to a door with a password lock. Imputing the word TOMORROW into the terminal, the door opened. Both Werner and his daughter went inside, leaving the others to wonder what was up. Jet looked at it, thinking about Virginia.

. . .

Werner told her, "When I was created, I looked all over the place for survivors, but found only burnt bodies. But in the specimen chamber, I saw a miracle. Both you and Jet were alive, sustained by only a barrier that had protected you from most of the damage. But his suspension pod was damaged, he wasn't ready to come into this world yet, and you were bleeding to death from a wound. I teleported the both of you to Leyline Observatory, hoping to save your lives. It seems it worked, but one thing still bothers me. How in the world did the two of you survive in the first place. There were no burn marks on your face, even though the area around the barrier was terribly scorched. And who erected the barrier in the first place anyway."

Suddenly, a beautiful blond woman with violet eyes, a silver dress, and lots of golden jewelry began to form before them. Virginia recognized her immediately, Filgaia the Planet Guardian. She looked towards the two, and smiled. It was I who saved them both, for the girl's pure heart had called on me. She looked at the boy you had created from my energy, looked to him as a friend to combat her loneliness. His origins didn't bother her in the least, if anything she took comfort in him having my power. 'Such purity can not die,' I told myself, so I rescued the two of them. I knew you would come to see if you could find her, to rescue your child as I rescued mine. Thank you, you have far made up for the mistakes that you made in the past.

Werner looked shocked that he could hear the Guardian. Usually, only Baskar or people with an Ark Scepter could be heard by one of their kind. Filgaia must have had stronger powers to be able to pull that off. She smiled, knowing what Werner wanted to do. Then, she sent her power towards the generator. It hummed and whirled a bit, before finally shutting off. Then, Filgaia vanished, to return to protecting them.

"Virginia, I must go now," Werner told her, "But do not worry, as long as I'm in your heart you will never forget me." He smiled, and faded away. Suddenly, a metal ball dropped, and Virginia picked it up.

"I'll treasure these happy memories of you all my life, Daddy. And I won't let Beatrice take them away. Don't worry, we'll stop her and return peace back to all of Filgaia," vowed the young girl silently.

. . .

Back at Boot Hill, they got some blank gravestones from the store, and borrowed a few tools from a stone carver living at the edge of town. Virginia began to carve an inscription into the stone, one that read, "Here lies Werner Maxwell, a brave soul who sacrificed his own life to give happiness to the ones he loved." She had it placed next to her mother's grave, and then put a Tiny Flower on each of them. Crying a single tear, the girl turned to the others. "We must hurry, I can't waste this chance my father gave us. We'll go to Beatrice's Castle of Dreams, and stop her once and for all. Looks like we need to talk with Halle and Shane again, they'll know what to do." Giving one last look to the spot where her father's memories lay, she turned to face the exit of town, and the new future that she and her friends were going to make for everyone alive.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

You know what, I only came up with this theory a few minutes before writing. Well, I went with the flow, as usual. Then I realized "How in the world would Virginia and Jet survive, anyway?" So I came up with this, Filgaia saw Virginia's purity and saved her to be her avatar. And Tesla and Shalte are still in the dark about what's going on. Better for the team, less people involved.