CHAPTER 23: YOU’RE ELYSIA?! P4
~23.4~
*****
“...but I’ll save that story for another time.”
Zen protested. “Really? But it was just getting good!”
Kye shrugged. “I promise. Let’s make this story thing a weekly thing. We can have dinner together, then I’ll tell more of Elise’s story.”
“What about when you run out of Elise’s story? Who after that?”
“Uh...” Kye averted her eyes. “Well... Elise’s story is long enough to fill a few libraries... so I don’t think we’ll run out of story for a looooong time.”
Yami raised her hand and asked, “What about the system you mentioned? You said our world has a system, too?”
“Oh, yeah. Actually, they’re the same system. Each world has different implementations, but every world in Elysium can have the same. We were SUPPOSED to have levels and all that stuff here, BUT you see... I forgot to actually flip the switches. There’s a bunch of modules that have a variety of different things enabled. The first five realms are assigned a module that only has the spell archive enabled. Though, I did turn on the skill archive a few years ago when I finagled access as a System Operator using a backdoor I left in place in case I ever came here as a mortal. Good foresight, eh?”
“Good foresight? You forgot to turn on basically the core functions of the system!”
“Heh...” Kye smiled apologetically. “Well... nobody’s perfect. But, I can turn stuff on whenever I want. I just thought it’d be best to slowly integrate things.”
“What? You think our empire is so weak that we can’t adapt to a sudden paradigm shift?” Zen said. “Don’t underestimate us!”
“Zen, sweetie,” Layla said. “You really don’t have the life experience to make that judgment. Running this empire isn’t-”
“Yeah, yeah, we can handle it. Kye, turn it on!” He had stars in his eyes.
“Ehh...” Kye glanced around the room only to see more with stars in their eyes. She traded glances with Layla, who only shrugged. “I don’t know... it’s not a decision to be made lightly.”
“Are you a god or not? Last I checked, gods can do whatever the hell they want!”
Exasperated, Kye stopped him. “Okay, first, I am not a god. I am an immortal soul that transmigrates a lot. The only god is Lady Eve. Second, I can’t just do whatever I want. There are restrictions! I’m a mortal right now, no different from you, so to speak. I can’t just arbitrarily make such a decision that’ll affect the entirety of the Ten Realms!”
“Can’t or don’t want to?” Zen smirked. “I think you can, sister. You’re just afraid!”
She raised an eyebrow. “And you think taunting me will do the trick? I’m not so shallow. You just want to play a video game in real life.” He didn’t answer. “It’s really not like that.”
“I never said that.”
“Maybe you didn’t say it, but you were thinking it so sincerely that it started coming to me like a prayer.”
“W-What?!”
She chuckled. “I’m kidding. It’s written all over you face.”
Layla laughed, too. “It sure is.”
“Hmph.”
Kye grinned at her brother, then glanced over at Ranna and Takeshi. “SO, you two. Ready to get married?” Their eyes widened.
Layla eyed them, too. “You’re gonna be royalty. Things work a little differently for us than nobles. Having a baby without being married isn’t acceptable. We don’t typically hold weddings, and...” she sighed. “Yami is still chronologically seventeen.”
“Yeah, that’s gonna be annoying to work around.”
Stolen novel; please report.
She looked down. “I’m sorry.”
“We could just wait until your eighteenth birthday,” Layla said, “but... meh?”
Astraia cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “Why not ask my sister? She can bend the rules.” She scratched her cheek a little. “I mean... she is the empress.”
“Honestly, yeah.” Layla shrugged. “Why not?”
“One moment,” Kye said. She stepped away and called Atalante.
“Hello, Kye.”
“Hey, we’ve got a minor issue that we need your help with.”
“Your brother and sister, I presume?”
“Ah, right. You hear the prayers, too. Regarding Zen and Ranna, they are expecting. And Yami is underage for marriage.”
“That is a problem. Give me a minute.”
“Okay.”
The call ended. Huh? She hung up?
Only a minute later, a rune appeared on the floor, and Atalante teleported in. “Hello!”
The four soon-to-be parents froze, their eyes wide.
“Oh, that’s what you meant,” Kye said. “Yeah, so Zen and Ranna are in the clear legally. We just have to marry them. Takeshi is in the clear, but Yami’s eighteenth birthday is several months away.
Atalante shrugged. “Eh, it’s fine. There’s actually precedence for it. Layla and Zen... uh... senior, will need to sign the form as well.”
“I’ll call him up,” Layla said. “Hey, hon, can you come to the academy? We need you for something regarding Yami.”
“What did she do?”
“Uh... you probably don’t want to hear it over a call.”
“Is Kye there?”
“Yes.”
“Have her make a portal. I’m in my study.”
“Okay.”
Layla relayed his instructions, and he quickly joined them. Layla got him up to speed, him eyeing Takeshi with a menacing glare the whole time. “Alright, let’s get this done.”
“W-What? Right now?” Ranna asked, startled.
“Yes, right now,” Atalante said, leaving no room for argument. A prompt appeared in front of six of the nine people in the room. The younger Zen and Ranna could sign for themselves, as could Takeshi, but Layla and the older Zen had to sign with Yami. Once they finished, Atalante clapped. “Welcome to royalty! I’ll find somebody to teach you things you need to know as a royal. Until then, carry on as normal.” She turned to Layla and Kye. “Have you already figured out how to keep her in school?”
Kye pointed at Astraia. “I will handle the illusion, Lanti.”
“You can do that?”
She nodded. “Yes. Thanks to my soul-bond with Kye, I have gained a wealth of knowledge, including her illusion magic.”
Atalante shrugged. “Alright then. Do any of you need anything else?”
Kye shook her head and created two portals, one for her father and one for Atalante. “We’re good now. Thanks!”
“Aye, aye. See you!” Atalante stepped through the portal to her palace, it closing behind her.
“Yami, Zen...” Their father sighed. “You know you shouldn’t use your sister as a role model for everything, right? Her circumstances were different, and they were planned. It’d be different if you weren’t in school, but you are. And one of you is so young we had to resort to an extremely old law.” He sighed again. “To be honest, I had forgotten that law existed. Praise Atalante’s excellent memory. You four had better come up with a good reward for your empress. Her gracious attitude toward this matter will not go without gratitude. Understood? Good.” He stepped through his portal, and it closed behind him.
Kye whistled as soon as the portal closed. “Dad is not happy with you two.”
“...does he not know I’m not pregnant?” Yami wondered aloud.
“He wasn’t all that happy about your marriage either, Kye, but he came around.” Layla shrugged. “Don’t worry about him.” She smirked and eyed Ranna and Takeshi. “Sooooo, new royals! How do you feel?”
“Umm....” Takeshi couldn’t figure out what to say.
“Overwhelmed!” Ranna blurted out. She jumped out of her seat and into Zen’s arms. “Zen! It’s so much!”
He held her close and glared at his mother and older sister, as if saying, “See what you did?”
Both shrugged and Kye said, “Shouldn’t have done the dirty. This is how it has to be.”
“Hmph. We’re going now. I want to talk to her alone.”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Layla said. She eyed Yami. “You can go, too. Clean out your dorms over the weekend. You’re moving to the palace. Married couples can’t stay together in the dorms, and I assume you’ll want that.”
“Yeah. Okay,” Zen said.
Yami smiled at Takeshi and grabbed his hand. She started to lead him out ahead of Zen and Ranna, but then remembered something. “Oh, Aneue! You wanted to talk to me alone about something?”
“Oh, yeah. The rest of you, shoo!”
Layla chuckled and teleported. Zen and Ranna left through the door. Takeshi wasn’t sure what to do.
“Uh... just wait in here. I can still have a private conversation. Didn’t really need to send the others out, but eh, it’s fine.” Kye snapped her fingers and generated a solid white barrier around herself and Yami that blocked light and sound.
“Oh, this is what you meant. So, what-”
“You said the name was familiar.”
“Huh?”
“Elise Arbelle.”
Yami averted her eyes. “I don’t know how. It’s your past identity. How could I possibly recognize that name?”
“Do you want to know? I can tell you if you’d like.”
She was taken aback. “W-What? How would you know?”
“Let me show you something.” Kye held out her hand.
Yami had a lot of trust in her sister and took Kye’s hand without hesitation. The two disappeared, though Takeshi couldn’t tell from outside the barrier. They appeared in the sky over the city.
“So, remember how I mentioned turning on the skill archive?”
“Yeah?”
“Watch this.” She held a hand downward. “<
*****
Revision: 2024-8-15