****(POV)
Lydia Lionheart had always found her name unfitting. It meant both 'beautiful one' and 'brave'. She tried to be both of these things but had only managed to put a facade at best.
In her guild, she was now renowned as a hardworking but difficult to approach girl. She had always been the shy kind, with her mother encouraging her to come out of her shell.
She would playfully say cheesy stuff like: "The world is bright and beautiful—and a little bit more every time you smile. So, why don't you go out and have fun? This life is too amazing to be frowning all the time."
Lydia wasn't brave, far from it. Her mother was way braver. She never complained and always smiled even as she lost her hair, as her organs slowly decayed, and as she saw her life coming to an end.
Lydia wasn't beautiful either. She had to put tons of foundation to hide the traces of all the sleepless nights. She wasn't even the sick one, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't picture her life without her mom.
Actually, no. She could, and it scared her so much. Lydia was selfish. She wanted her to remain in this world for her sake. She wanted her to remain by her side. But, fate had other plans.
Eventually came the day she had to face her mother's lifeless body. Even then, the woman looked peaceful and beautiful, not a trace of worry in the world.
That day, Lydia cried. Her mask of a strong daughter came off. She was nothing but a mess both in body and spirit. She had her mother cremated and carefully kept her ashes in a small and cheap urn.
That very day she took her mother's remains, climbed the tallest building in the city, and she moved toward the edge. As she stood next to the abyss, she couldn't help but want to jump. It would end all the pain.
But that wasn't her purpose. She had to keep living, and she had to keep smiling. On top of that building, she scattered the ashes. "I hope your spirit brings a smile to all. Thank you for all you've done. I'll always love you, mother. I'll miss you."
She almost felt the world turn a little more lively after she was done with that. At first, she thought she just imagined it, but then she realized that firetruck sirens were blaring and people down there were pointing at her.
That's when the door to the rooftop opened as a negotiator came in and starting telling her about how beautiful life was and how it was worth living. Ah! She somehow had been misunderstood as a jumper!
She started laughing while crying in front of a puzzled man. She could picture herself telling her mom this story as she howled, laughing. She showed the man the urn embarrassedly, explaining. As he smiled, she couldn't help but agree that it did make the world a brighter place.
Her mother was the best. Even as nothing but a pile of ashes, she could still bring happiness to the world. Then they slowly walked down the building, taking the stairs. On the way, she completely abused the poor man's kindness.
She unburdened all of her emotions onto him. How lost she felt, how weak she felt, how she didn't know what to do with her life or how to deal with an empty urn. She even complained about always getting more Blue M'&'M's for some reason!
She was talking for the sake of talking. She didn't expect a dialogue or even an answer. No, she just unloaded it all on him. When they finally reached ground level, she somehow felt better. It must have felt like an eternity for him.
As she left, she even proudly showcased her mother's urn to everyone. She nodded at them, made eye contact, shook their hands, and thanked them for attending the funeral. It was so awkward that it made people smile.
As she didn't know what to do with her person, she received a call. It was from a kind and remarkable woman called Linda. Somehow, she had known her mother way back. She wanted to invite her to her ranch to talk about her memory.
Lydia saw it as a way to turn the page. She felt it was indeed a fantastic coincidence. Well, of course, it wasn't. Her mother had been planning this for months. She knew how hard her daughter found it to cope with her sickness.
Instead of worrying about herself, she had used the little time she had left to make a few plans. One of these was for Lydia to go on a ranch to change her mind. But, she knew she would never abandon her, so she had made postmortem arrangements instead.
It took time, but Lydia began smiling again. No, she had been smiling all along, but it slowly became genuine. Her new horse helped her so much in the process. She called her Izabella, her mother's name. It was very fitting because when she was with Izabella, she kept smiling.
Then, the whole Tower thing happened. She somehow tried her luck and managed to Climb at a relatively good pace. As for financing, it happened due to chance too. She had entered a sculpture shop, the smiles of the statues calling to her.
One thing led to another, and she joined Basilisk. Nowadays, she was relatively happy. There was still bittersweet sadness, but it was definitely bearable.
Eventually, that incident happened. She was peacefully enjoying her quality time with Izabella when he intruded. Usually, she wouldn't have cared much about a perverted glance, but this was her sacred moment.
She lashed out without even realizing it. She lost her temper so much that she turned into a real bitch. Then she went to teach the rogue a lesson, but it ended up with Izabella falling.
She couldn't lose her, not again! In her eyes, the horse overlapped with her mother. She got flooded with emotions she had buried deep in her heart.
That's when she begged the man. She wasn't thinking straight. She just wanted to save her. She felt the same helplessness as back then. It was the worst! He agreed to help and stood next to her.
She wasn't in the mood to carefully analyze what was happening, but she felt it. He transformed into another being. That's when she realized that he was the Grim Reaper. He would save her horse in exchange for her own life.
When Izabella opened her eyes, Lydia couldn't help but throw herself at her. She even embraced mister Grim Reaper in the process but didn't care. It's only a little while later that she came back to her senses.
He clearly was only a man. She had made a fool out of herself, yet she couldn't help but chuckle. That's when she shyly stepped backward.
It was as if spring had come to her face. Her cold and aloof expression was no more. She glanced at the man. He was extremely mysterious. He wore a very normal gray suit yet had a way to conduct himself that made it seem like his presence was natural.
She politely bowed. "Thank you very much!" She was ready to proceed with whatever payment he desired, but he simply dismissively told her it was fine. That's when he waved goodbye and left, leaving a stunned trio in the room.
That is when Linda finally came back to her senses. As she wasn't a Climber, his earlier display had shaken her even more.
"Lydia, you forgot something important!" she said in a grave tone.
"What?!" Lydia couldn't help but be slightly worried.
"You didn't get his number! I can't believe you would commit such a rookie mistake! You had a golden opportunity too! You could have thanked him with a meal!" She sounded extremely serious.
Lydia couldn't help but chuckle, relieved. If that was the only issue, then it wasn't much of a problem.
"You worry too much, aunty. He's probably a Climber in Metropolis-C. It shouldn't be that hard to find him. I'll have to thank him properly."
"Do you want me to show you some techniques to properly 'thank him"?" She said that as she winked and pointed at her own breasts.
"No need!" Lydia shyly answered, making the experienced lady guffaw.
Still, she was so glad. He could have easily walked away from this. Killing a horse in self-defense was in no way a crime, especially if it was done in such a mystical way.
She slowly began the walk back home with Izabella, sending Linda back in a taxi. As they trotted, she couldn't help but recall his appearance, the Grim Reaper one. How could he change so drastically in so little time?
But then she had a flash of insight. The answer was obvious: it was either a skill or an incredibly mighty item. Either way, it showed great means. As she passed by the <Very Happy Farms>, she couldn't help but smile.
Somehow she felt that this mystery man was part of Dimensional Legion. Why? It was only a gut feeling, her instinct. Still, who else would show such capabilities and be utterly unknown to her?
She felt curious about it for sure, but she put the idea aside for now. She had to find a way to repay him. For the first time in her life, she lamented her lacking charm. This would have been so much easier if he had truly been staring at her ass back then.
As she arrived at Horsing Around, she felt at peace once more. She still didn't know how to proceed, but she'd figure it out.
"Are you alright? You're all red!" Linda teased her on the side.
"YES!" She cried out.
That woman's suggestion had poisoned her mind for sure! There were plenty of other ways to repay someone. Anyway, what were the chances he had already forgotten about her?…
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