CHAPTER 36 - ELISE AINDREA P8
~36.8~
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“Something doesn’t add up to me,” Layla said. “The whole thing about Eve having conditions for you, and-” she glanced at Mavel.
“Some of that is nonsense invented to give us motivation with our memories sealed,” I said, “but each of us have different priorities and goals. Eve wants us to return to the living world with all of her children alive. Mavel wants Maya and her partners to return to the living world. I want to hunt down and imprison Phantom so that he can’t harm anyone anymore. Zaldin and Zalen want us to abandon Elysium and return to the living world whole. That means Sanae and I disappearing, as well as Mavel and Alethea disappearing, so that Elysia and Maya can be whole again and return to our throne in Alexandria.”
“It’s impossible to satisfy all parties,” Alethea said with a shake of her head. “Elysia and Maya have their own desires.”
“Let them speak for their selves,” Mavel said, standing up. She gestured for me, Sanae, and Alethea to join her hand and formed an orb of rainbow mana.
Each of us placed our hands on it, and the room changed. The room was filled with a warm presence, and images of their whole selves appeared.
“This magic spends mana permanently, so let’s not keep it active for long,” Maya said. “To differentiate us...” She pointed first at herself, then her two halves. “Maya, Alethea, Mavel.”
“Maya, sweetie!” Mabel jumped up from her chair and rushed to hug Maya.
“Hi, mom.”
“I never imagined I’d see the real you again.”
She shook her head. “My halves are no less real than me. I know you’ve grown very attached to them. I have, too.” Knowing what she would say next would shock everyone, she smiled to hide the pain in her voice. “I can’t come back while they live, and I don’t want to take away their lives. They are me, but they are also their own people, independent of me.”
“And you?” Eve said, approaching her whole daughter. “Is this how you feel, too?”
She nodded. “Kye and Sanae...” She paused for a moment. “You can refer to me as Elise. After all this time, I’ve come to like the name you gave me. Like Maya just did, to differentiate us, I’m Elise, Kye, and Sanae. And they are my little sisters.”
Maya held Elise’s hand. “We can’t stay long, love.”
“Why can’t you do this for long? If this is possible... you could return to Alexan-” Velarus began.
“No, dad,” Maya said. “The mana this spell requires could power the entirety of Elysium and the Living World for a decade every second it’s active.”
“And it’s permanently spent,” Elise added.
“Not even Elise and I have the mana to use this spell recklessly. I’m sorry, but this is how it is. We both care about our halves very much and want them to live their lives. That means we can never return so long as they live.”
“That why Zalen, Zaldin, and Zane tried to kill Alfia.” Elise snickered. “Fools had no chance. All they costed her was her body and now they’re in the celestial prison. Anyway, we need to end this spell. It’s already been two minutes, and that’s a non-trivial amount of mana even to us. But first...” She held her hand out toward Luma. “Luma. Please protect them.”
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“That goes without saying, My King.”
Elise smiled. “My and Maya’s desires trump all else. We want our halves to live their lives. Nothing else matters more to us than that, though they will argue against that. Keep them safe as best you can, even from themselves.”
Luma smiled. “As you wish.”
“And be true to yourself.”
“I will be the best guard knight.”
Elise smiled dryly, but didn’t say anything else.
“Mom, dad, I love you,” Maya said. “Please think of my halves no differently than me.”
“We already do, sweetie,” Mabel said. Velarus nodded in agreement.
“Atalante... Lanti.” Maya looked at her next. “I thank you very much for taking care of Alethea. I miss our time together in the academy when you were Eglantine. You were a wonderful friend.”
Elise and Maya turned toward the orb that was maintaining their presence and reached for it, but two hands stopped Maya’s and one hand stopped Elise’s.
“Not yet,” Joey cried as she hugged Elise. “I miss you so much.”
“Azalea, sweetie, I’m so sorry. You’ve been holding this in for a long time, haven’t you?”
I smiled watching Joey cry her heart out to Elise. She’s been monotone ever since we split. She used to be such an extroverted and joyful child. She took the split harder than anyone else.
“Is there really no way to have you back without losing them?” She barely managed to get her words out amidst her tears.
“No, sweetie. I wish there was a way.”
Unable to hold myself back. “Since we’re soulbound, maybe we could bring her into our dreamworld. It’s never been done before, but if anyone can make it happen...”
“Maybe. Let’s talk about that more in the dreamworld where it won’t cost us a tremendous amount of mana.”
“We’ll cover some of the cost, just stay a little longer,” Michelle said. Hers was one of the hands that stopped Maya, and Adele’s was the other. Both reached for the orb with their free hands. “Since this magic drains mana directly from our souls, we can provide it unabated.” She hadn’t yet met Maya’s eyes.
“Dara, look at me.”
Michelle looked up at her, and Maya was taken aback by her expression. There was no mistaking the anger hidden behind her tears. “You don’t get to just appear here like this and leave without saying anything to me or Adele. And what about Kaede? Kaede, come out! I know you’re hesitant, but I know you want to see her, too.”
Kaede appeared, but had trouble saying anything. Adara and Adele let go of Maya’s hand, and she embraced Kaede. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. I should’ve called for you right away, but in a rush to quickly say everything, I didn’t.”
“I missed you, mom.”
“I’ve missed you, too.”
As they talked, Adele and Adara glared at Elise, who looked away, too embarrassed to meet their eyes. She didn’t plan to say anything to them on her way out either.
“I know what you’re trying to do, but it doesn’t matter,” Adele cried. “You can’t make us replace you with your halves in our minds. You want us to stop thinking about you and give the love meant for you to them instead.”
“What did we tell you when we found each other in the Aristide Academy?” Adele asked. “I want to hear you both say it verbatim.”
Elise exchanged glances with Maya.
Both looked at Adele. ““No matter what happens. We’re in this together.””
“And that was before the world tower.”
“We followed you here, Elise. Me, Adele, Maya, Luma, and Azalea. You were exiled, and we followed you here. Don’t underestimate Adele and me. No matter if you split your soul in two, or three, four, twenty, whatever! Don’t underestimate us! We can love every version of you. That’s the vow we made when we married in the Transcendent World.”
“We’ll find a way,” Adele said. “We’ll find a way to have all three of both of you.”
“Impos-” Elise started to say.
“Shut it.” Adele looked at Elise with the same angry tears Michelle had. “We’ll. Find. A. Way.”
“Yes. We’ll find a way,” Adele said. “No origin spell exists for this now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t invent it.”
Elise pulled both into a hug. “I pray you figure it out.”
Maya joined them and said, “A world where we all get what we want would be just lovely.”
Joey pulled on Adele and Adara’s hands. “Let them go for now. You’re using too much mana. I want them to stay longer, but we can’t.”
They nodded and stepped back, as did Joey and Kaede. Maya and Elise touched the orb, and the intense aura in the room vanished along with them.
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Revision: 2025-2-7