He took a deep breath and blinked his eyes, allowing the tears to fall as the image shifted to the one of him in the hospital bed.
"I'd been so enveloped by this dream of paving a new path for you that I'd completely missed out on what was planted within me. I knew the day you entered the world that you were a chosen potential, one who was destined with three others to save the universes of our magical galaxy. I understood the variables involved and that a force much stronger would be out there...waiting for that golden opportunity to strike. I acknowledged it and was working hard behind the scenes to counter it, but just like that, I'd fallen right into a hole I'd ignored. My dream of giving you a life of freedom and opportunity without fear of being knocked down suddenly shattered before me and I was left to hopelessly perish."
Now I was crying, my lips trembling as I fought the sob that left me. My eyes remained on the image of him in the hospital bed, and as if time had fast-forwarded to when he took his last breath, I arrived in his room.
There was the young me, my wide eyes filling with tears as I fought for breath. I ran to his side, begging for him to wake up just one last time and to hear my voice.
The reminder awakened those emotions and questions, my sobs still echoing in my mind as I begged for Daddy to come back.
"In a flash, my human life was over, and I had to acknowledge what I always was," he whispered.
The scene of me crying at his hospital bed began to shift to the new image of my father. There he was, standing next to me with a hand on my shoulder. He watched as I sobbed with his human hand in my grasp, my tears rolling down my flushed cheeks and falling onto his pale, clammy skin that began to bruise purple and blue.
I could see the movements of his lips, his expression distraught as he tried his best to comfort me, but he couldn't.
He wasn't of my realm anymore.
"Aria warned me that whether I liked it or not, I'd have to face my true path. Those who were higher than me gave me the opportunity to live as a human. My time may have been limited, but I couldn't even be selfish. I'd met the love of my life. I'd had two beautiful girls who had woven destinies that would change the world. I wanted to be angry at them...and maybe I was for a good while, but I'd rebelled against my own path, and the result was a premature death."
The image shifted to him standing before a council of beings. They sat in tall golden chairs, their faces hidden behind hoods. It was obvious that each of them was a different supernatural race, but it was clear that combined, they held power beyond this world.
I didn't need to be there to feel it from the sole image, and my eyes centered on the trembling man who fought to remain standing in front of their piercing gazes.
"My soul was tugged before the council, and they decided to remind me of what I was." His voice trembled as he continued, “They told me I was a god. A being created to mark the path for those destined to rise within the world below. My time of playing games was over, and because of my premature actions to try and save my children, I deserved to be punished."
The image changed to show an island in the sky, one that was guarded by gigantic golden gates with two big men who guarded the entrance.
"I really had two options," he admitted. "I could perish and be sent straight for judgment. That seemed rather tempting, but if I did that, I never would be able to see you, Scarlett, or Melrose ever again. Even if it was from a distance, it would be better than always wondering when that time would come when we'd meet again. The other option was to do my godly duty, which would have me become a part of the council of S.S.S. Sky Division. The headmaster had done his duty and was ready for judgment, which left the position open for me. It surely didn't seem like a punishment, and I decided it was the best option."
He paused as the image changed and there was Scarlett's shocked expression. It was as though she was on a mission of some sort, her combat uniform as clear as day as she stood there with her guns ready to shoot but remained still as a statue.
"The day of my punishment came when I was face-to-face with your older sister. The confusion that resonated on her expression as she struggled to pull the trigger… I was the person you'd least expect to meet during a spy investigation, don't you think? Yet, there I was, completing the sentence of headmaster that I accepted to be given the chance to see you grow from afar. Yet again, I'd ignored what being present in my godly form would reward me, especially when my children were destined to be demigods."
"You're saying Scarlett is also..."
"A demigod who will return to her godly position when deemed right," he whispered. "When she discovered who I was, she had to endure exactly what you must be experiencing now. The betrayal that weighs heavy on your mind as you're forced to acknowledge my presence. She had many questions, like you did back then, and she got the answers she sought in time. However, my decision had then led to her having to do what she didn't want to."
The scene changed once more, and there was Scarlett watching me from afar as I was laughing with Mother while we set up the dinner table. We were deep in conversation, our joyous expressions only adding to the lines of agony on Scarlett's face as she fought not to cry.
"She couldn't tell us," I whispered.
"Secrecy is a killer if you think about it. If it wasn't for her love for you and your mother...maybe it would have done exactly that." He said those words with shame as he hung his head low. "Seeing how the truth had effected Scarlett made me realize my suffering wasn't over. I still had one more child and she'd decided to respect the wish I set out for her and attend S.S.S. Academy."
Lifting his gaze to me once more, his watery jewels stared back at me with pride as he whispered, "Every challenge you went through, I witnessed it all, and every moment I thought death would take you was the most painful thing I'd ever experienced. It was the true punishment the gods wanted me to endure. Which leads to this very moment."
The cube returned to its golden display and we faced each other once more.
"After all the obstacles, you achieved what I wished for you, and now we're here."
He took a step back and my eyes grew wide as he went on his knees and bowed his head to the floor.
"With what approaches, I know I have no right to stand before you or to even bow and apologize, but I know how close we were, how you looked up to me with innocent wonder, and I couldn't prevent you from experiencing this fate. No amount of words or even actions can justify how you must feel, and for that, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I failed you as a father. That I kept so many secrets, thinking I'd finally get that moment to tell you the truth. Life isn't guaranteed, even in this supernatural world, but I pretended to ignore that, and this is just another consequence I'll have to accept. You have every right to be angry with me, and if...if you choose to continue onward as a spy and have me as your headmaster, you do not need to keep in contact with me. Whatever you decide, I will go along with."
"What did Scarlett decide upon?" I had to ask, especially after seeing her on the stage.
"Aside from business, we don't talk. She chooses to keep the memory of her father where it belongs. In the grave. She refers to me as Artemis, and we only interact when deemed necessary, like what happened yesterday."