Chapter 13: Year 5 Begins, P1

~13.1~

*****

“Alex! There’s too many!” said a blonde girl carrying a rifle.

A group of four ran down a long hallway with stone walls as fast as they could. The one in the lead was a redheaded girl named Alex. Behind her was the blonde girl, Lita; followed by a light-brown-haired young man, Jaden; and a purple-haired girl with long ears, Elasha.

“What do we do?” Jaden asked frantically, running with a pistol in each hand.

“This is crazy!” Alex shouted. In her right hand was a broken sword and a pistol in her left.

“We have to get out of here!” Elasha said calmly, her staff swaying as she ran.

Chasing the group was a squad of armored knights. They turned corner after corner, ran up and down staircases, and lost the knights, but another group was always around the corner ready to take over. Soon, the group of four found themselves in a throne room where a blonde woman with long ears was battling a tall, dark-haired man.

“How did we end up here?” Alex said. “This is where we started!”

“This castle is riddled with magic matrixes,” Elasha said. “I couldn’t even tell where we were going.”

“What? Alex?” said the black-haired man. “What are you doing back here? Hurry! Get out of here!”

“You will not!” the long-eared blonde shot a large ball of blue mana at the group.

“No!” the black-haired man quickly fired a mass of mana of his own at the group to protect them. They braced themselves and were engulfed in a bright, silvery light.

*****

“NO!” Kye jumped out of bed and slammed her back against the far wall. A wave of bright, silvery light exploded from her, and it continued through the walls as if nothing were there.

Alethea, Adele, and Michelle quickly woke up and jumped out of bed. Seeing Kye across the room on her knees with her back against the wall, they rushed over to her. Allison and Layla suddenly appeared in the room, too, with weapons in hand.

“What happened?!” Allison shouted.

“Are any of you hurt?” Layla asked. She saw Kye on her knees and rushed to her. “Kye, are you okay?”

“I... I’m okay,” she said. “I think it was a dream.”

“What was that burst of aether?” Allison asked. “It felt like yours, but... different. As if-”

“Burst of aether?”

“It was a wave of white aether... but it was... luminescent. Silvery even.” Allison and Layla returned their weapons to bracelet form and shared a glance. “You said something about a dream? Can you show us?”

Silver?

Kye nodded and cast memory magic to replay the scene she witnessed in her dream.

“That’s...” Allison turned to Layla. “Call mother. I want you two to look at her together. I don’t know what that wave of aether did, but it was extremely powerful.”

“We haven’t had any actual battles since Atlas, so we haven’t really seen her power at full force in a while... but that wave was... nevermind, I’ll call mother. You three lay her on the bed. It’ll take a bit for Hannah to get here.”

“Perhaps we should consult with Alfia, too.”

*****

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong,” Hannah said. When they arrived, Kye was sitting in a chair next to the tea table. She hadn’t had any yet, though her wives and attendants had empty cups in front of them. Liliana gathered the dirty dishes and went to make more tea for the guests while Hannah and Layla examined Kye. Alfia waited silently, even when Kye showed the new guests the dream she’d had via illusion magic. “Your body is quite healthy. Your mind might be unsettled from the dream, but I don’t see any issues with continuing your daily life.”

“I see,” Kye said as she stood up. “I...”

“What about her mana and aether? It’s all normal?” Allison asked. “I sensed no abnormalities, but I wanted you and Layla to look together in case you could find something I couldn’t.”

“No, nothing’s wrong with either. There are no abnormalities.” Hannah turned back to Kye. “But, if you feel off at all at any point, go to your mother right away. If we still cannot find anything wrong with you, we’ll need you to go see Evelyn.”

Kye nodded. “Okay.”

Hannah averted her eyes. “As for that mysterious wave of aether... I don’t know what to say about it. I’m afraid that bit is your wheelhouse.” She glanced at Alfia. “Medically speaking, I can’t find a thing wrong with her. She’s fit to go to school.”

“How far did it reach?” Alfia asked once Hannah was done with the medical examination.

“Outside the city, but not far,” Allison said. “It moved fast and didn’t interact with anything. I’ve never heard of such a phenomenon.”

“Hmm.” Alfia mused as she looked at Kye, her eyes glowing. “Eli, can you make silver aether at will?”

Kye shook her head.

“As far as I can tell, since I wasn’t here, is that it was an instinctive reaction to the vision.” Alfia wrapped Kye in silver aether. “Knowing you, you’ll probably be able to do it at will before too long.” She released the shroud of aether, smiled, and patted the blonde’s head. “Perfectly normal. There’s nothing wrong that I can tell, either.”

Layla sighed in relief. “That’s good. I was afraid-”

The door suddenly burst open and three young children ran in.

“Mama!” A black-haired little girl jumped into Kye’s arms. “Are you okay? They said you were seeing a doctor!”

“Yes, sweetie, I’m okay.” Kye looked up at Layla and Hannah in a way that the girl would notice. “Layla and Hannah took good care of Mama.”

Hannah whispered to Layla, “This scene is so cute.”

Layla replied, “Isn’t it, though? Yami was like that, too.”

“Why is it I’m able to see her kids anytime, but I wasn’t able to see yours? Huh?”

“Hehe...”

Kye gave Hannah an apologetic smile, having overhead it, then clapped her hands. “Okay, children, show everyone how much you’ve practiced!”

The three girls nodded and lined up.

The three-year-old, legally four, Kaede stepped forward first and curtsied. “Greetings everyone. I am Kaede Akari of Nippon Sekai.”

The two-year-old, legally three, black-haired girl went next. “I am Rei Akari of Nippon Sekai.” She curtsied as she introduced herself.

The blonde twin went last. “I am Joey Maya of...” The young blonde stopped short and turned to Kye.

Kye sighed and turned to Layla and the others. “Yeah, we didn’t think that one through. We gave her the Maya surname, so she’s not sure if she should use Nippon Sekai or Drachenheim or what.”

Michelle smiled and kneeled down in front of the young blonde. “Joey, sweetie, you can use whichever you want.”

The girl turned back to Kye but said nothing. Kye shrugged. “Athas.”

“People won’t know what that means.”

“With this world’s customs, I won’t be speaking to people in public. May I wait to decide?”

Kye glanced up at Layla, not knowing the answer herself. “Age eighteen is the cutoff.”

Joey nodded and turned back to her mother, again saying nothing. “Me, too. Shall we-?”

Before she could finish, six more young children came into the room. Michelle giggled and said, “I wondered when the rest of them would come in.”

There were two redheaded girls, both of whom ran up to and jumped onto Adele’s lap. One had shoulder-length hair, and one had hair partway down her back. The redheaded boy did the same, but with Michelle. The two parents exchanged amused glances. The last three were a white-haired boy, white-haired girl, and black-haired girl that each went to stand next to their mothers. The two white-haired children stood next to Liliana, and the black-haired one stood next to Aliana.

“Ariel, Anna, were you worried?” Adele asked the two girls in her lap.

Both shook their heads. ““Nope. Eli is strong.””

The boy, Adriel, nodded his head. “Yeah, Eli is strong.”

“Leo, Luci, Leti, show our guests how much you’ve been practicing,” Liliana said. The three stepped forward and introduced themselves in turn.

The boy went first. “I am Leonardo Venturi IV of Nippon Sekai.” He bowed with his introduction.

The white-haired girl went next and curtsied. “I am Luciana Venturi of Nippon Sekai.”

The black-haired girl did the same. “I am Letizia Venturi of Nippon Sekai.”

Layla and Hannah gave them a smile and clapped. ““Very well done!””

Adele gestured for the two girls in her lap to do the same. Michelle pushed Adriel as well.

The longer haired girl curtsied. “I am Ariel Maya of Drachenheim.”

Her short-haired twin did the same. “I am Anna Maya of Drachenheim.”

The boy bowed. “I am Adriel Maya of Drachenheim.”

They received smiles and claps the same as the other children.

“Well done, kids!” Kye patted the young blonde on the head and asked, “Shall we?” The young blonde nodded and led Kye out of the room, followed by Kaede and Rei.

Hannah was confused and asked, “Did I miss something?”

“Joey is... different,” Michelle explained. “She talks less than Allison.”

“I resent that,” Allison said. “I just don’t like small talk.”

“Joey seems to only speak when absolutely necessary. She has this sort of silent communication thing with Kye that the rest of us don’t really understand. Apparently, it’s something they can do because they’ve spent so much time together.”

Alethea nodded. “They’ve been soul-bonded longer than Kaede and me. Azalea is also Elysia’s biological daughter.”

“Yep,” Michelle said.

Adele stretched and let out a yawn. “You two are overthinking it. Joey wanted a milkshake. I’m gonna go get one, too. I’m feeling a sweet breakfast.” She waved as she walked out. “C’mon kids! Lily, Ally, you bringing your three or can I take them?”

“Go ahead, Ally. I’ll clean up here.”

The black-haired sister nodded and left with Adele and the remaining six children.

“She could tell, too?” Hannah asked.

“I have no idea how...” Layla replied.

*****

Revision: 2024-3-6