Born From a Forbidden Union, Humanity hates me.

With the wall closing behind her, Stella blinked a few times rapidly.

"Papa saved them?"

There were many stories Orion did not tell to his daughter. In fact, Stella knew barely anything about what he did before rescuing her.

Even after, Orion never complained about anything that happened, either to her, or anyone else.

This made the young girl think.

Why was he keeping everything to himself?

Yet, even though her curiosity was slightly piqued, there was something, a sentence, that kept bothering her.

-

'Until the return of our Savior, the Remnant of Progress you will become.'

-

The return of their Savior? Stella got confirmation that it was her father.

"Does that mean that..."

Her eyes lighted up, as the phantom of her past, returning slowly to replace her cheerful and changed self, was cast away.

Orion wasn't dead, is what the elementals told her. It would be impossible for her not to feel relieved and happy.

Yet, the second part was bothering her.

"I am..."

She looked at her tiny hands.

"A Remnant?"

Oblivious to the spiral shape sigil sometimes appearing in her eyes, Stella pondered.

"Like Miss Henrietta and Miss Tetra? Like Tio... Tior..."

The name of the tree of life was stuck on her tongue, but Stella focused.

"T-i-o-h-r. Tiohr-nam."

Remembering to take it slowly if she were to ever struggle with something, she said the Remnant's name without any more struggle.

Even if she lived only a few months alongside Orion and the mother figures that were his companions, Stella grew tremendously as a person during that time.

It was as if her past had been completely erased from her memories, or an entire lie. Living with them was such a blessing, that she never intended to leave Horizon.

But life wasn't as simple as giving what the individuals wanted. Now, Stella had to walk her own path, alone.

Turning around, she looked into the deep darkness of the cavern. Such darkness was never seen by the young girl, who always had the starry sky of Horizon to watch through her window.

"Do I... need to go forward?"

In a way, when she was alone, she resembled Amelia when she was younger: a shy and withdrawn girl.

But, she has a big support in her life now.

"Can I really be... like him?"

Placing her hand on her heated chest, she pondered once again.

And, without looking back, Stella stepped forward, entering the dark path.

Unknowing of what was ahead of her, she picked up the pace, and walked into the abyss.

"..."

With no idea if she was on the right path, she continued in silence.

But the quiet air suddenly changed, as a faint voice echoed, testing the little girl.

"Stella."

"Papa!"

Stella was overcome with emotion when she heard Orion's voice. She scanned the darkness to find her father, but with no success.

"Where are you?! Please! Tell me!"

"I'll..."

Then, as she was about to tell the voice that she would look for him, she closed her mouth.

Her eyes flashed briefly, revealing two spirals inside of them.

The darkness suddenly vanished, as a curtain of light dropped on it. Stella, confused and saddened, confirmed that the voice she heard was but a figment of her imagination.

A coping mechanism to help appease her anxiety in this dark environment.

Slightly discouraged, she returned to the path, now visible thanks to her Remnant ability.

But, what was that 'Progress' that she heard earlier?

Only one woman would be able to explain what it entails, and that's precisely what happened.

'She' will explain.

"..."

"Hi! I guess you could say I'm the remnant of the previous 'Remnant' of Progress!"

"Oh, I should shut up? Sorry, I'll focus."

A little dispirited, the sweet and excited voice of an adult woman echoed around Stella to explain her power, as her footsteps echoed in her ears.

"A wide range of functions could be defined as 'Progress'."

"Everything created by Nature in this world has been affected by progress. "

"Oh, by the way, if you hear this, I suppose it should be fine to say that I'm your mother. Your blood related mom. Hi!"

Stella stopped.

"Huh?"

Confused by the sudden revelation, she listened to the voice, who suddenly made a weird noise.

"Afuh!"

"What was that for?!"

"Fine, fine, I'll shut up! For Nature's sake, you're one painful husband to deal with..."

"..."

"Ahem!"

"Let's start from the beginning, then."

"Tetra came to me a few days ago, with an idea from Henrietta. The idea was to help me in my goal to create the true, most perfected child who will support the traits a Remnant of Progress should have."

"As you might have seen, I have a little... quirky personality. I tend to go overboard when I do something. If not for Miasma's constant attacks on the human cities, we would already be in the next civilization phase, but alas, these things require long periods of peace to be put in place."

"It had been a long time, approximately four thousand years since I've seen them, but I was glad to finally hear news from them. It's quite unfortunate that they need to live in hiding, but what can I say, it's not my place to judge, especially when they are in danger."

Stella listened to the woman ramble, thinking that she was very talkative. Was she really her mother? She compared herself to her, and found no similarities with her current self.

"Anyway, that's the gist of how you came to be. I've found a perfect mate, tried to create children a few times, but a Remnant isn't someone on the rail of creation anymore."

"It is INCREDIBLY, and I emphasize on it, difficult to have a child with a human-like Remnant. That's when the 'Progress' came to play."

"I was the one who created the idea of 'Factions'."

Suddenly, Stella froze.

'Did she really say that?'

"At first, Remnants had no power over than ruling over their given natures. By sharing condensed threads of magic deep inside of us, it becomes possible to create new life that doesn't go against Nature's rules."

"In fact, I believe she was fine with us populating the continent after... that, happened."

A little sorrowful tone escaped the voice, before she sounded joyful again.

"If I succeed in bringing you into this world, I intend to share this information with Henrietta, who seems to want a daughter too."

Henrietta's daughter. Amelia.

"That's probably all you need to know about what I've been doing."

"Now, to tell you what progress is."

"..."

"I hope she's old enough to understand everything..."

The concerned voice seemed to ask this to her companion, whose voice was inaudible.

"Well, fine."

Taking a deep breath, the woman exhaled and continued.

"Progress, Advancement, Science, and Creation."

"Those are the four natures you have under your control."

"Progress is the idea that something needs to become... better. Do you get it? Hmm... See, it's like a tree."

"At first, it is only a seed, but with time, or 'Progress', it grows into a tall and thick tree. It progressively changed into another state, better and stronger."

"That can influence living things, or inorganic matter too. You could even change a cloud into a storm if you wanted it to."

Stella, who had a clear imagination based on those words, pictured it perfectly, without a flaw. It made it easier for her to understand.

"Then, comes 'Advancement'."

"This one if rather straightforward. You have cavemen, then you have villages, and at last, cities. Is that simple? Or too lackluster?"

"Explain it better? Huh... Well, it's really just that. You advance the stage at which people or things stayed at. Like I said, this one takes either hundreds, or thousands of years. Thanks to Miasma, we're seen very little improvement in factions development."

"That's all I had to do with 'Advancement.' You simply push something to the next part of its life."

The first exemple was enough for Stella to understand. Then, came the most difficult topic to understand.

"Now, let's have a clear idea of what 'Science' is. It is a word that became a nature to me after the Hero passed away."

"This was a new addition to our world by Nature, who decided to give it to me. To say that it helped me in my research is no exaggeration."

Stella took a deep breath, and tried to listen without leaving a single drop of information go by.

"The concept is rather strange. It looked like an idea that should be used in a more advanced, more civilized world. It uses countless electronic components that are incredibly difficult to find, or process."

"But, with the knowledge I have on it, I had managed to create a few small devices a long time ago, but someone was way more knowledgeable about that than I could ever be, so I blessed them."

The woman was talking about an angel that loved to create various complicated devices that he used to power up his magic. One of a kind among his peers.

"If I had to give an exemple, it would be... I should use that book as a reference."

"Imagine a chariot. It is most commonly pulled by horses. Instead of those horses, you place an engine, a self-sufficient, or close enough device that powers the cart alone."

"That is science. A very practical, but complicated topic. I hope you will study this more than I did, as it might be a perfect subject for the next advancement of our civilization."

This was probably the nature she understood the least. What was an engine? Replacing horses by a device? She had no idea, as this was too difficult for her young self.

"At last, let's talk about 'Creation'."

"Honestly, I have no idea what it does..."

The look on Stella's face was one of bewilderment. How could this woman be this whimsical in nature?

"What I know, is that this is the reason for creativity in this world. It is a nature that works best left untouched. Every faction as the potential to create something new."

"Like me, who is trying to create you."

A very pleasant and comforting voice took her by surprise.

"I wanted to give you a name in person, but I might not be able to even see you before I pass. You see, even as a Remnant, I managed to go overboard before meeting your father. I destroyed many of my 'lives' in an attempt to achieve my dream."

"You might be my last chance at succeeding. If I do, I hope you won't despise me for what I've done. Your father is someone incredible, he will have no trouble turning you into a great person."

"Now, you should reflect on what a Remnant is. Feel the essence of things swells in your core, let them ink their mark on your soul, and ponder regularly on their existence."

"Does someone need this? Is it useful? Too early or too late?"

"There are no wrong choices. Unless you choose to destroy or civilization, everything is in your hands."

"I hope you will stay healthy, and follow a path of greatness."

"..."

The voice stopped talking. At the end, she could feel the sadness in her voice, as if passing on the torch was a burden she would have rather not entrust to Stella.

"Mom... My mother."

A tear fell down Stella's cheek. A faint memory of someone breaking into her house, killing the man of the house, and taking her away resurfaced.

"Julian..."

The man who kidnapped her, treated her like filth, letting her die on the floor. Adopting Orion's character, she felt incredible anger at the man. But, he was dead.

There was nothing to be done about that anymore. Orion had already taken the matter in his own hands, and avenged her late blood related father, who perished a few years after her birth.

Suddenly, a light appeared at the end of the path. Stella placed her hand in front of her eyes, sheltering them from the blinding light.

Her feet crossed the threshold of the light, before a gentle breeze caressed her cheeks.

Adjusting to the light, she removed her hand.

"...!"

When she looked around her, blades of grass swayed from the wind. The sky was blue, and clouds went by peacefully.

It was an entirely different world than the cave she was in.

When she turned around, she confirmed that the path was still there.

But, when she looked in front of her, that's when the true shock came.

A crystallized titan, taller than the highest clouds, overlooked the entire world, sunken halfway through a white colored sea.

The humanoid colossi remained lifeless, even as she took a step back.

'Bring... me... back...'

With only those words echoing in her mind, Stella's work began, to become the next Remnant of Progress.

Someone worthy of being the 'Daughter of a Hero'. With Orion's light and dark element inside her, the gears of her story began to turn.