Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]-Chapter 376: The Grandfather

Third-person POV

The ringing would not stop.

It pressed against Electra's skull like something alive, sharp and relentless. Even in the darkness, she was aware of herself, aware that she was not asleep, not unconscious, and not gone. She existed inside the sound, trapped in it, waiting for something to shift.

Then it did. The ringing did not disappear, but it lowered just enough for something else to take form.

A glowing light.

At first, it was faint, barely noticeable in the endless black, but then it grew and started to spread outward in slow waves of light. Fire suddenly came into existence, controlled and contained, forming a circle that highlighted only a single figure.

A man stood within it.

He was tall and composed, his posture straight without effort. Long white hair fell over his shoulders in smooth strands, catching the firelight, but the flames did not burn him. Instead they moved around him like they belonged there, as if they answered to him.

Everywhere else remained dark, and Electra's first realization was simple and immediate.

She was no longer in the classroom. There was no desk under her hands and no chair under her body. She was standing upright, her arms at her sides, her fingers free instead of gripping wood. The ground under her feet was solid, even though she could not see it.

The second realization followed just as quickly, which was that the man in front of her was not human.

She did not need him to tell her what he was. It was obvious in the way the fire bent around him and in the way the darkness gave him space. His eyes glowed faintly, ember-bright, steady, and unblinking.

The ringing finally faded into silence before the man spoke.

"Do you remember who I am?"

His voice was deep and controlled, carrying easily through the dark. It did not echo, and it did not strain. It simply existed, firm and commanding.

Electra did not answer right away. She tilted her head slightly, studying him with quiet assessment rather than fear.

"Am I supposed to?" she asked.

Her tone was even, almost bored. Then she shifted her weight subtly, testing the ground under her feet. It held.

"You are not human," she continued calmly. "That is obvious."

Her gaze moved briefly around the endless darkness before returning to him. "And you dragged me here. Wherever this is."

He did not deny it, and her jaw tightened faintly. "Regardless of whatever power you have," she continued when he still didn't say anything, "or whoever you think you are, you had no right to cause me pain in any way."

The memory of the pain lingered, and even though she didn't know how she knew, she was almost too sure that the ringing had not been accidental. It felt forced and deliberate.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "And looking at you now," she added, "all I want to do is strike you."

The fire flared, rising a few inches higher before settling again. "And watch you burn."

The man continued staring at her as if she were mildly entertaining rather than threatening. His expression did not shift, and if anything, there was a faint look of disapproval in his gaze, as though she were speaking out of turn.

"Well," he said at last, "seeing as you do not remember me, I will reintroduce myself."

The word "reintroduce" settled strangely in the space between them. He took a single step forward, and the flames moved with him, keeping him illuminated while the rest of the darkness remained untouched.

"I am your grandfather."

The statement was direct, and Electra blinked once, then again. "Grandfather?" she repeated.

"Yes."

He folded his hands behind his back, posture composed. "Before you ask, we have only met once before, and we share no bond. There is no relationship between us."

That part did not surprise her. She searched her mind anyway, just in case, but nothing answered. She did not remember him, and she did not even remember having parents.

The word "grandfather" implied history, blood, and a family line that meant something, but to her, it meant nothing.

Her gaze sharpened slightly. "I do not remember my parents," she said evenly.

"I am aware," he replied.

The firelight reflected in his eyes as he studied her more carefully.

Seraphina's voice echoed faintly in Electra's memory, what little she had been told about how her mother had been the phoenix and how her father was the human.

The man standing in front of her was not human, which meant there was only one logical conclusion.

"You are my mother's father," she said slowly.

"That is correct."

The confirmation did not settle comfortably, and Electra crossed her arms loosely over her chest, her posture straightening in response to him.

"My mother was the phoenix," she continued, more to herself than to him. "And my father was human."

"Yes."

"Then you are neither human nor anything resembling it. Are you a phoenix?"

His gaze did not waver. "You're close enough."

Silence settled again, and she studied him once more, looking for something like familiarity, recognition, or even irritation, but there was none.

"You forced your way into my mind," she said finally. "Would you like to tell me why?"

The man's eyes glowed softly in response. He spoke slowly, deliberately, as if choosing each word with care. "You could say that the reason I'm here is because I am a fair deity," he said. His tone was calm, yet it carried an intensity that made Electra pause. "And fairness demands that I return to you an option I took from you."

Electra's brow furrowed. "An option?" she asked as confusion tugged at her voice. "What are you talking about? What exactly did you take from me?"

The words lingered, and Electra realized something else at the same time, which was that he had just called himself a deity. That made her curious, but the thought barely had time to form before another, stronger question pushed it aside. What did he take from her? That was what mattered. She could wait for him to answer before thinking about anything else.

The man tilted his head slightly, regarding her with a steady gaze. There was no anger, no malice, only the patience of someone used to being obeyed. "I took your memories from you," he said finally.

Electra blinked. Her mouth opened, but no words came out for a moment. She could feel the weight of those words in her chest, a strange mix of disbelief and unease twisting inside her, and the fire around him flickered slightly as if reacting to her hesitation.

"You… took my memories?" she asked again, her voice quieter this time and uncertain. The silence that followed made her heart beat a little faster. She searched his face for a hint of emotion, any sign that he might be lying, but there was nothing.

"Yes," he said, as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world. "And now, you must decide. Do you want them back, or do you wish to leave them where they are?"