CHAPTER 35: REN AKARI P1
~35.1~
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When communications were suddenly shut off, Kye and the others went to the front door of Pendragon Palace. Kye and Sanae each examined the palace and found that the entire inside of the building was gone.
“What do you think?” Kye asked, looking at her sister.
“No rash actions. I wouldn’t even open the doors right yet.” Each of them continued to examine the door for a few minutes, and then a black-haired young woman wearing a strange belt-covered outfit appeared behind them.
Kye, Sanae, and Alethea were each taken aback. Layla wasn’t sure who the girl was, but she noticed the other three had at least some idea.
“How is this possible?” Kye slowly approached the girl. “How are you grown?”
“When am I?”
Sanae’s eyes narrowed. “When?”
She nodded. “What is today’s date?”
“May 18, 12007 AE100,” Layla answered. “To what end are you asking that?”
The girl gritted her teeth. “The day my bastard father threw me away. What a cruel joke to send me back here on that day.”
“Are you a time traveler?” Layla eyed Kye. “I was under the assumption that time travel required an inexorbant amount of mana.”
Kye nodded. “It does, but keep in mind our trip was ten million years. It’s very possible for Sanae or I to move a few years through time with only a few hours of prep. I could return to yesterday in a minute or so, and I could go back a couple of hours in seconds. The amount of time you traverse determines the cost.”
Sanae stepped closer, “You are Ren, right? Your soul is identical.”
The girl sighed. “You really are able to tell. He said you would know right away.”
“He?”
She nodded. “My handler. The guy who sent me on missions for the past two hundred and seventy years… at least it’s been that long for me, according to my system menu. I stopped a while back.” She shook her head. “Anyway, since this is the day I was thrown away, does that mean my father is here?”
“Wait, hold up,” Alethea interjected. “Who is your handler? Are they expecting you back?”
She shook her head again. “No. He wants me back, but expects that once I come into contact with any of you, I’m free.” She eyed Kye. “It’s been a long time for me, but I know who my family is, even if only by name. I was barely five months old when… today happened. I’m so sick of time travel.” She held a hand to her head. “Ugh.”
Kye exchanged glanced with Alethea, who immediately examined the girl. She had a headache, so Alethea healed her.
“Oh, thank you. I’ve had that headache for so long, it’s been hard to focus lately.”
“That was a tumor, likely from years of stress. It’s gone now.”
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“A tumor?” She was taken aback, but shook her head. “I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve never had any sort of medical care until now.”
Kye put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I want a direct answer from you on this. I can already tell based on your soul, but I want it by your own words. You are Ren Akari, yes?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “My parents are your younger brother, whom I would rather not speak of by name, and Ranna Yoshida.” A tear welled up in her right eye. “I miss my mother. I remember a few scant things. I remember her holding me, singing a lullaby.” She scoffed and looked up at her aunt. “I’m ten times her age now. Is she…” She paused and shook her head. “No. My father is the more pressing matter.”
“Do you remember anything about him?” Sanae asked.
The girl narrowed her eyes and looked at the front door of the palace. She started marching toward it. “I remember him throwing me into a portal, and on the other side was a man named Shiro Shikigami.”
All of their eyes widened. They were taken aback so much that they didn’t think to stop Ren from barging into the palace haphazardly. She threw the doors open and barged in. On the other side were Yami and Ranna running toward the door, and Aliana and Zen facing each other near the stairs.
Ren immediately laid eyes on her father and screamed, “YOU BASTARD!” She was beyond angry. She had so much to say, but then she laid eyes on Ranna, and suddenly nothing else mattered. She stopped in her tracks.
Ranna stepped closer to her, her hands held outward. Ranna instinctively knew who the girl was. “Could it be?” She moved the girl’s hair to the side to get a full view of her face. “You are! But how?”
“You know who I am?”
Ranna nodded. “I could never see you and not know.” Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she embraced the girl. “My baby. Ren.”
The girl’s eyes were quickly overcome with tears as well. “Mom!”
After almost three centuries of longing for her mother, Ren was finally reunited with her. Happy to leave the mother and daughter crying in each other’s arms, Kye and Sanae stepped around them, past Yami, who had since stopped running, and walked up to Zen.
“Great, more noise.”
A loud slap echoed throughout the foyer and down the halls.
Zen staggered back slightly, but quickly recovered.
Ranna tried to run up to them, but Alethea stopped her. “No. You stay with Ren.”
“But!”
Alethea shook her head. “No. Whatever happened is far from normal. We lost contact, and that is incredible. Kid gloves are off.” She looked at Kye while blocked Ranna’s path. “Right now, she is acting as King of Elysium, not as Crown Princess of Nippon Sekai.”
“Mom, please listen to her,” Ren said. “The man that took me in is a nightmare. And the one he works for is even worse. As much as I resent…” she glanced at her father, “him for everything, we should let them handle this and talk once everything is calmed down.”
“You speak as though…” Ranna held a hand up to Ren’s cheek.
Ren smiled. “I’m not a child now, but ever since I was thrown away, I’ve longed for you. I remember the lullaby you’d sing to me and Kenji.”
Ranna’s eyes teared up, and she pulled Ren into another embrace. “My baby.”
“That didn’t feel great.” Zen rubbed his cheek and looked at his sister. “Why are you all still here? I want quiet. You should all leave.”
Kye wasn’t having it. “You are clearly not in your right mind. Alethea, examine him.”
Alethea nodded and left Ranna and Ren to Aliana. She walked up to Zen and held her hand out. Before she could wrap him in her mana, he screamed. “NO! ALL OF YOU, LEAVE. NOW!” He smiled at Kye. “You all really should go. The voice is getting louder. It is going to do something soon. You should leave first.”
Kye exchanged glances with Sanae, who shook her head. Kye turned back to Zen, “What voice?”
“The one the makes things happen for me. When I want everything quiet, the voice makes things quiet.” His brows furrowed as he continued. “You are still here, though. That’s not normal. The voice is getting very loud. Yes. The voice will make it quiet again!”
And then he disappeared.
“What just happened?” Layla asked. “Where did he go?”
“Zen?” Ranna ran over to where Kye and Sanae were standing, and where Zen had been. “Zen?!”
Kye and Sanae looked around, both scanning the room, then the palace, then the entire royal district. After neither could find him, Sanae ran outside and took to the sky where she quickly casted Eye of Providence, but she couldn’t find him. She returned and confirmed their suspicious. “He is no longer on this planet. He could be anywhere.”
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Revision: 2024-11-15