"What?"
Ian's mind went blank immediately after blurting out the only word he could muster. He could only hear ringing in his ears as his mind processed what Cora just said.
A simulation?
Every horror and near-death encounters were fake?
Even the injuries he sustained were faked?
Then Ian experienced another wave of dizziness causing him to stumble a bit before something grabbed his arm. The grab itself forced his mind to come back to reality as he heard words pouring into his ears.
"....can you hear me? Hello Ian?"
It was Cora.
She snapped him out of his stupor.
Ian instinctively frowned and pulled away from the grab. He straighten himself up with the elf woman still in his arms as he replied to Cora.
"Yeah...I'm fine....I'm fine now."
He chanted the words almost like a mantra to mostly calm himself down. And eventually it did calm his foggy mind. Ian calmy look straight at Cora for answers. He was simply too exhausted to be angry at the moment. And as if seeing the unspoken signal, Cora began her explanation.
"Judging from your reaction, it seems Primus didn't explain what a legacy trial really is exactly. And for that I apologize for her actions, it seems she wanted you to believe everything was real to the point your life would've been in danger."
Cora bowed her head as she spoke her apology.
But Ian simply had a blank look. There was a fundamental reason for it, trust. To Ian and many other people, trust was easy to break but difficult to fix. Now in front of him, a simply apology to withholding a crucial information that could've saved Ian from mental torment was supposed to regain his trust in Cora.
Even if it was Primus' role in explaining it to Ian, at the moment he felt that Cora was also an accomplice which prompted him to reflexively speak his mind.
"How am I supposed to trust you now? Even if you claim to be my mother, showing up now when I'm 20 doesn't mean I should automatically trust you."
Ian spoke out the words he was so desperately trying to hold back. He still needed Cora to heal Jodie and he was willing to bury his grievances with the silver haired woman if it meant healing the one woman who was a mother to him. Ian bit the bottom of his lip reprimanding himself in his mind for letting his emotions leak out.
For a moment, there was silence between them as Ian was intentionally avoiding eye contact with Cora. Then as Ian was about to apologize, Cora spoke prompting him to make eye contact again but her silver eyes were glowing and her tone sounded commanding.
"From here on, every word that I speak to my son Ian shall be the truth and only the truth. This oath I swear."
Her eyes stopped glowing right away from speaking those words.
Then she spoke again while wearing a smile, "Now Ian ask me a question."
Confused, Ian asked what came to mind, "Are you my birth mother?"
"Yes, I still remember giving birth to you and you even have a birthmark that looks like a wing on your left butt cheek."
Ian coughed at the last part. No one knew that last part, not even his adoptive family or Mike. It was Ian's little secret since the birthmark was on an embarrassing part of his body.
At least Cora is confirmed to be his birth mother aside from the similar features they shared.
"I can even tell a little lie to prove that the oath works. Like say you have natural black eyes or..."
As Cora spoke a little lie to Ian, she suddenly got pale.
"....something major like I hate you Ian because you shouted at your own mo-"
"That's enough. I get it. You can't lie to me."
Cora smiled upon hearing those words. But to Ian it was creepy.
Why?
Well for starters, blood was running down Cora's eyes, nose, and other orifices of her face. It was disturbing to see especially when she smiled.
Mother or not, Ian didn't want to associate himself with her upon seeing that bloody smile coupled with blood tears coming out of her eyes and other orifices. But his rational mind came to terms quickly as Cora willingly endangered herself to ensure his trust in her plus he still needed Cora to heal Jodie.
Ian sighed to himself as he shook his head. He really needed sleep and time to process everything that happened to him.
"Let's save this talk for another time."
So he decided to end the conversation here and walked out of the alley to the general direction of where he parked his car.
Cora walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Ian as she clean herself with a handkerchief. She was seemingly happy to resolve the issue between herself and her son.
But...
"Also Cora, don't take it personally but next time, don't ever touch me again."
...Ian's warning to her almost caused Cora to pout before she saw how serious Ian was just from his side profile.
She could only acknowledge Ian's personal space with a nod.
It would take a long time to forge a bond with her son or at least in her mind, reforge a bond.
***
"So this metal carriage is something you own and can control without any horses to pull it?"
"Yup, it just needs gasoline and the key in the ignition then its good to go."
Right now, the mother and son duo were in Ian's car which was a normal white 4-seater vehicle. The elf woman was laying asleep in the back while Cora was riding in the front passenger seat. The entire long walk to his car was an awkward unbearable silence between them minus a couple of small talks. As Cora didn't want to overstep any boundaries and Ian was exhausted from today's events. Ian only knew that everything happened in less than a day because it was the only conversation he had with Cora during that long walk. Now, Ian didn't mind answering her curiosity as he drove home since small talks were a good way to keep himself awake on the road.
Their conversation continued throughout the ride with Cora asking about Ian's car and how he got it to eventually about the city being so bright but quiet. Nothing serious came up through their conversation, it was like Cora was intentionally avoiding sensitive topics for now to try reconnecting with her son.
Eventually, Ian noticed from the corner of his eye that Cora was holding something unfamiliar to her. But the object itself was familiar to Ian, a smartphone. And Cora was taking pictures of the scenery like a tourist visiting the area. Ian raised one of his eyebrow as his curiosity peaked.
"Umm...Cora?"
"Yes?"
"Where did you get that phone?"
"This thing? Oh so earlier today when Mike and I went shopping, these rude young men dared to flirt with little old me while being very mean to Mike...."
Ian's neutral expression suddenly turned sour at the mention of Mike and Cora shopping together.
It was surely because Mike was his manager so his money was originally Ian's money which in turn meant that Ian's money was used for Cora's expenses.
'Yeah that was definitely it.'
Ian's soured expression shifted to a happy one once he reached that conclusion.