Chapter 11: Honeymoon (2)

~11.2~

*****

Allison was waiting for them at the entrance. She pulled Kye, Alethea, Adele, and Michelle aside to have a quick chat. She reviewed the incident at the emergency council meeting where Kye almost recovered Elysia’s memories. “Kye, you cannot remember the name Alfia uttered, but since that name will be in your sealed memories, I see no reason to keep it from you. Alethea overheard it already, and I know Adele and Michelle will know the name.”

“Very well,” Kye said, her eyes narrowed. “What is it?”

“I am similar to you, but different. I am not one of the ninety-nine, but I am originally from Athas. Layla and James do not know this, nor does anyone else outside of you lot and Atalante. There are many things that I believe you should know, regardless of your sealed memories, but for now, I see no reason to bog you down with heavy information. My name in Athas was Seris.”

Alethea grimaced. “So I heard Alfia correctly.” Adele and Michelle were shocked into silence. “How are you here?”

“In short, I am not the same sort of reincarnation that you lot are. I have not experienced tens of millions of lives. I know I have a handful of past lives, but I know neither how many nor do I have memories of them. My reincarnation is more akin to that of mortals. I just so happen to remember my original self.”

“I see.”

“We can discuss this more another time, if you wish, but for now, I wanted you to know at least that much.”

Kye’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know what I was back then?”

Allison nodded. “I do.”

“Did you know me?”

“Yes. Personally.”

“What were you to me?”

Allison smiled, a rare sight. “Something not unlike what I am to you here. Now go. Enjoy your honeymoon. We’ll talk more when you return. Go have a good time.” Allison left them and went through the gate to Alcanus.

Kye sighed and turned to her spouses. “Who was Seris?”

“She meant it literally,” Adele said. “She was our teacher.”

“But we should probably not speak much about it,” Michelle added. “Lest your seal be weakened.”

Kye sighed again. “Yeah.”

They rejoined the rest of the group, then went through the unmarked gateway after the coordinates were set for Atlas.

*****

“Ah, how nice of you all to visit,” said a purple-haired and purple-eyed woman, meeting them on the other side. She wore a form-fitting black suit and had her long hair tied into a low ponytail aside from her bangs. “Astarte, Astraia, Alexandra, and Ginchiyo, how have you been? It’s been a while!” She glanced back and forth at Kye as she spoke.

“Indeed, it has,” Astarte said. “The four of us are traveling with these young ladies as guards.”

“Oh my. What could have happened for them to need guards of your caliber?”

“We’ll talk about that later.”

“Okay! Don’t forget or I’ll get angry!”

Astarte fake smiled. “Right...”

The woman shifted around behind the four guards to get a better look at the teenagers behind them. “Ah, yes. I have been looking forward to this day for YEARS.” She took Kye by surprise and put Liliana and Aliana on guard. She smirked and said, “Oh, girls, you can forget that. You have no chance of beating me! Besides, your four adult guards here can handle that sort of thing. You’re just children, you should relax and have fun!”

“Uh...” Kye wasn’t sure how to react.

“Anyway, how are you, Kye? Your mother has bragged so much about you, Zen, and Yami, but I haven’t gotten to even meet any of you yet! I’m so sad! You’ll stay here for a while, won’t you? We’ll have a great time and make your mother jealous! No need for introductions, I know who all of you are, and I expect you’ve figured out who I am by now.”

“Ah, yes. Lady Hannah, it is nice to finally meet you.”

Hannah smiled. “Okay, we all know each other, now let’s go have some FUN! I may be ten million years old, but I’m still young!”

“You’re ten-” Kye stopped short. “Right, you’re mom’s mom. Of course, you’re from old Terra.”

“Oh yes, I was born before Terra went boom and the system was put in place by Goddess Eve.”

“Huh?”

“Hannah, she hasn’t been-” Alexandra began to argue, but stopped short. “Right, the soul-bonding. She would know that now, and Kye doesn’t keep secrets from Liliana and Aliana.”

“Yes indeed! I can see their status screens, ya know, so I knew they are soul-bonded. All the royals born before the war are system administrators. But your status is a little strange...” She glared at Alethea. “As are yours.” She eyed Adele and Michelle. “That little girl’s status is like yours, but... she’s a soul weapon and already bonded to you? Her name is Kaede Akari, she has affinities with every element and alignment, divine affinities with everything, and even that mysterious white mana. It shows nothing but question marks for her mana capacity, just like yours. That means the system either cannot or does not have permission to quantify you. Hmm...” She swiped her hands in the air, navigating through not her NeuraPhone, but the system’s display. “Oh, that explains it. You lot are reincarnations under Goddess Eve.”

“Wait, what?” Astarte said. She started fumbling through the system display, too. “Holy shit, it’s here.”

“Uh...” Kye sighed and raised an eyebrow. “You had access to something that could have told you what we are right from the start, and you didn’t know until we told you?” Her eyes narrowed. “Wait a moment. I didn’t know that existed either. You said ‘system administrator’?” She navigated the system menu, but couldn’t find the panel that Hannah had used.

“You have to be a system administrator, hun.”

“I’m the system creator, so why can’t I see it? I haven’t had the occasion to access any of the administrator or higher features, but it seems I can’t.” She sighed. “I’ll look into this later.”

“Huh. I’ll fill you in later. Let’s go get you all settled in for now. Happy birthday, by the way. Eighteen already! I finally met my granddaughter! YAY! I’m a little upset you got married before I could meet you, but at least you’re here now! Oh, after you’re settled in, wanna go to the hot spring at the resort? It’s great!”

“Uh, problem with that...” Kye said.

“Hmm? What’s up?”

“Well, you see...” Kye glanced at Alethea, who was looking away awkwardly.

Hannah gave her a smile. “You’ll be fine here. If you have any dysphoric issues with anything, please talk to me in private and I’ll help you. I was a transgender advocate before the war, and I’ve been one ever since! I’m a licensed medical professional, and I even promoted it when I was on the council. You have no enemies here, sweetie. And anyway, I handle your medications,” she eyed Adele, “so, I already know very well both of your situations. By that way, I see the notes in here that you only recently began taking feminization medication, Adele.” She smiled warmly. “You have done quite well with your appearance. Well done! I didn’t clock you any differently.”

“Wait, you didn’t recognize her?” Alexandra asked.

Hannah shook her head. “I did not! I wanted it to be a surprise, so I haven’t seen a post-transition picture. I had to check her status to find out.”

Adele smiled in response, as did her spouses.

Alexandra sighed and mumbled, “Why couldn’t Kolodka take the initiative to check before running his mouth?”

“Oh?” Hannah had a very evil smile on her face.

“Hannah, please, it’s fine. He wasn’t intentionally... never mind, it’s handled anyway.”

“If you say so, but if the boy needs disciplined, just send him to me! Any who, without further ado... hey that rhymed, hehe. To the Atlas World Resort!”

Now I see why James said ‘firecracker’.

*****

Revision: 2024-1-24

A/N: Advanced Chapters are now available on Patreon! See profile for links!