Traigar and Freyd were released from Loki's bondage and rushed over to Lynefra. The coming of age for a High Human was a big deal, one that Freyd and Altresca both hadn't had.
People like Traigar usually didn't have a child who could live to the date that they were fully mature. Figures such as him had made countless enemies and their children were usually killed. It was an unfortunate thing but the children really did pay for the sins of their parents in the High Human culture, paid with their lives.
The Spiritualists of the High Human race had said it was because the power of a High Human was too overbearing for a child to bear. In order for a child of heritage to grow up, their power had been sealed by Syble, himself. The seal would be broken by the body's physical power when a High Human child had grown of age. At that time, not only was their explosive power released to their own control, but their bodies would stop aging.
At that point, the High Human adolescent would burn off their mortal blood and it would be replaced by the semi-divine silver substance. The silver blood was much more vigorous than the red mortal blood, and thus, it would stop their aging. Women of the High Human race didn't burn off ALL their mortal blood. There were some parts of them that had to serve a special function in the creation of life. This was the case with Lynefra. Her coming of age occured with her first period.
Lynefra, however, was an abnormal case. High Human males typically stopped aging around 30 to 35 and the women stopped aging around 20 to 23 as they matured faster than the males. Lynefra, daughter of the house of Nihili, was only fifteen. Traigar, in his joy of finally having a child to exhibit all of his race's traits, didn't care.
Lynefra's sudden change wouldn't have been so sudden if she had received the proper education about how a High Human matures. She experienced all the odd pressures and signals from her body that a pure High Human would, but in her ignorance, she attributed it to her other abnormalities. In fact, there were only three beings who noticed Lynefra's maturization approaching. Loki, Kuzunoha, and Fate.
Kuzunoha had only noticed it a short while before it actually happened. She smelled Lynefra's menstruation and tried to bring attention to it but the child wasn't educated in sex ed, and elven women were exempt from having a menstrual cycle.
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Altresca was furious, not only was her window broken, her sister had vanished in the night. 'Where is she?!' She had looked all over the campus. It was past the meeting with the student council but Altresca kept searching for her sister. Slowly, her anger turned to worry. 'That disgusting man didn't...' she banished her dark thoughts and gathered some studying materials then went to Lynefra's room. When Lynefra returned from..wherever she went, she'd have to at least bathe and get a clean set of clothes.
The day slowly turned to night and Altresca fell asleep while studying her latest interest in Lynefra's room. The following day, a great commotion woke Altresca from her sleep. She found herself in Lynefra's bed, at some point she had crept into Lynefra's bed and used her pillow as something to cuddle. She hastily wiped her drool of the pillow and got up.
Just as her feet hit the ground and she stood up, the door opened. Lynefra quickly walked in (no veil) wearing a short lavender dress, the skirt was so high it barely covered her buttox and it had a white lace trim. Her face was a shade of red that Altresca didn't think was possible on an elf. "My gods, what are you wear-" her face quickly paled as she noticed the red line coming down Lynefra's leg. She knew what it meant and she knew how embarassed some of the High Human girls had it happen to them and were caught unprepared. She, herself, hadn't "matured" enough yet and possibly never would have such a phenomenon occur within her body.
As Altresca was about to offer aid to her sister and her grievous circumstances a loud shouting figure directly behind Lynefra drew her attention. Altresca, temporarily stunned out of her wits also looked at the people the shouting person was shouting at. A very beautiful Elven woman, a woman with lavender hair and eyes who was fanning herself, a suave looking man - he was too small to be a high human but he was missing the pointed ears of the elves. There was also a giant man with flaming red hair and sunglasses...over an eyepatch. 'Curious,' Altresca thought amusedly, then she saw the other two figures trying to force their way into the room. They were Freyd and Traigar.
Altresca was happy to see her father and brother, as well as slightly confused. Freyd looked like he was dragged along by Traigar and Traigar had a look of supreme pride on his face, oblivious do his daughter's shame. Altresca felt irritated with the men following her sister. "MEN! OUT!" She commanded.
The man with the eyepatch blushed, nodded his head to her, and walked out, dragging Freyd and the now stunned Traigar with him. The person who was previously yelling slammed the door behind them. It was a brunette haired High Human girl who looked to be around 20 years-old. Her green eyes stood out among her other relatively normal looking facial features. She was pretty, but next to Lynefra and the elven woman, everyone else looked like they had some kind of degenerative disease.
"thank you.." Lynefra mumbled somewhat meekly.
The brunette girl's reaction to Lynefra's voice gave her identity away. The student council vice president was known to be quite fond of members of the same sex. Lynefra's voice, though her "charm" was being actively turned down, caused the girl to sway on her feet slightly. Her more eager motivation to "help" Lynefra and teach her how to deal with her problem was apparent on her face.
"Yanrin, don't be such a pervert," Altresca levied a proverbial shot across the brunette's bow. With one comment, she let everyone know the disposition of the vice president.
The girl blanched, woken from her trance by the rude comment. "Uncalled for!" she yelled.
Sister, I don't think she was going to do anything untoward to me, Lynefra defended the girl who had done her best to clear the path for Lynefra to her room in her plight as she started to remove her dress.
"A moment Lynefra," Kuzunoha gestured for her to pause as she lifted her nose into the air and sniffed a few times.
What's wrong? Lynefra frowned. Kuzunoha didn't reply but the elven woman, Lystall was beaming with anticipation.
"If you're going to peek on THIS maiden, do so when I'm not around," Kuzunoha said to the air as she reached out and pinched.
"WOMAN! I swear you'll be the death of me," Loki's voice wafted through the room, towards the door as it opened, then closed.
"You're good," Kuzunoha turned back to Lynefra and started fanning herself calmly.
Thanks Kuzu.
Kuzunoha smiled in satisfaction as Lynefra resumed the act of undressing herself. With Lynefra's clothes out of the way, she undid the glamor she cast on herself, revealing her battered state.
Altresca gasped and ran into the bathroom. Emerging with disinfectant and a clean towel. She hurried over to her sister. The student council vice president, Yanrin, grew roots as she watched Lynefra's form in awe. Being biased towards her own gender, and being a High Human, Lynefra's current state was the ultimate aphrodisiac for her. "Maybe you should leave the room too," Altresca muttered to Yanrin as she brushed past her.
"No need," the Elven woman waved Altresca away with her lovely voice and a graceful gesture. She then placed her hands gently on Lynefra's shoulders and started to emit a green light - Lynefra's injuries faded slowly.
"Healing magic?!" Both mortal girls were agast. The rarest kind of magic, and such a powerful healing magic.
As if to answer the question of the woman's identity, Lynefra said aloud, "Thanks Lystall."
While the girls (and goddesses) were busy helping Lynefra with her injuries and feminine problems, Traigar sent word to Cirwyn. Cirwyn, in turn, sent word to her brother and explained the the importance of Lynefra's period to the Emperor.
Within two hours, the Dulsan Academy was full of members of the Imperial family who still held Cirwyn in high regard, as well as countless amounts of soldiers who had taken leave to celebrate with their General, even at the risk of being charged with dereliction of duty.
Rumors spread that Lynefra had once again destroyed the school's barrier but most of the authority figures within the Academy paid either no mind to the rumors or took Lynefra's imperial backing into account and decided not to bring the matter up to the girl. There was, however, one exception.
The dean had traded his desire for Altresca with his obsession with Lynefra. To him, she was a heaven blessed child and he meant to have her, whether she liked it or not. Dean Hallel put on his best robes and strode out of his quarters to receive the guests of honor, a lecherous glint in his eye.
By the time Lynefra's treatment was done and her nethers were properly padded to prevent another embarassing moment, her sister and the student council vice president had been apprised of the identities of all the people who had tried to accompany her into the room and of the two that had stayed. It took hours for the shock to wear off and another few hours to get Yanrin to agree to keeping the fact that the gods loved to hang around Lynefra a secret.
Traigar and Freyd had informed Cirwyn and the Emperor of the demon's movement and offered their best guesses as to how the demons knew the scouting party was going to be investigating that particular region. They didn't inform the Emperor of the demon god, Allenrael, and his death at the hand of Lynefra. If word got out, the nobles who thought poorly of the Nihili family might be more motivated to try and kill Lynefra or more probably, try and make her the scapegoat of some crimes with at best, circumstancial evidence. All in all, the general consensus was that there was a traitor in the upper echelons of the Dulsan government who had secretly allied themselves to the demons. This was a matter for another time, however, for now there was a celebration to plan and a banquet to be held.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Cirwyn had decided the best place to hold the banquet was the Royal Academy, it was, after all, the place Lynefra was going to spend the next few years of her life. Cirwyn also chose the Royal Academy because it was a place of learning and a place of promotion better relations between the races than at an academy that accepted the talents of all the world's races. She had heard complaints from her daughter and her friends of the lecherous habits of the Dean, but Cirwyn thought Dean Hallel would restrain himself in the presence of his father, the Emperor, herself, and probably the most threatening existence among all mortals, her husband. Unfortunately, she was mistaken.
For the next three weeks, classes were dismissed as the entire academy and the elites of the Dulsan Empire prepared one of the most grand banquets of the century. Everyone was overjoyed when Emissaries of the High Human country, Zelix, arrived. Traigar was the only one who wasn't pleased. The emissaries showed up while Traigar and Cirwyn were having lunch with the Emperor and his wife. Several Magisters were also present but sat at a different table. Under the eyes of all the important people at the Academy and key figures of the government, the emissaries ignored the Emperor and walked directly to Traigar.
"Honored third prince," they said in Unison and bowed.
The Emperor dropped his cup and spilled coffee everywhere. Two Magisters fainted, and another fell back in his chair. The Emperor's wife (Not the empress) stared at Traigar in amazement. The only person besides Traigar who wasn't surprised at his title was Cirwyn.
"Brother, you spilled your coffee," she smiled at him and picked up his cup.
"I threw that title away when I refused father's orders to raze a village," Traigar growled.
The room was silent until one of the Emissaries responded, "Prince, your brothers are dead and your father has been wounded. He has named you the crown prince of Zelix. Today we come on behalf of your Royal father to offer congratulations and offer a few small tokens to your daughter, Lynefra. Word has travelled far of the daughter of the Lion's Son Traigar. Her talents are unmatched in any generations prior and are doubted to be matched in any generations to come."
Before Traigar could say anything the other emissary turned the the Emperor. "Emperor of Dulsa, son of Fallagar. On behalf the Emperor of Zelix we offer tidings of peace and prosparity. Unwittingly, your royal father has wed our two royal houses together. It is late but our King has instructed for us to deliver untold riches should you choose to accept our offerings for your sister into the royal family of Zelix."
"Traigar Nihili..Traigar Zelix, the lion's son," The emperor mused to himself. His father may have cast his sister out of the family due to the pressures from the nobles, but this new revelation was world shaking and life changing. In a few words he had lost a valued general but gained the ally of a powerful Nation.
"AHAHAHA, I KNEW YOUR AURA SEEMED FAMILIAR, TRAIGAR THE LION'S SON," a burly man dressed in black with firey hair shouted. He was missing his previous eyepatch, his wound with Veorful had healed in the previous days but he was still wearing his sunglasses. The man exuded an aura of divinity. "Traigar, the lion's son. Your father is Laigrat the Lion, God's kin, yes?"
"yes.." Traigar replied, he still didn't know the identity of the man who had tried to claim Lynefra as his own.
"Be right back!" The man said and he disappeared from where he stood in the corner of the room, only to reapper with a black haired man in sleeping robes who was greying at the temple. He had a striking resemblance to Traigar. His build, and facial features matched that of Traigar's only his beard was better kept and his hair and eyes were of a different color than Traigar's.
"what the.." The man said drowsily. Apparently the fire headed man had pulled the other out of bed and come back at lightning speed. It slowly dawned on the onlookers that the man with the fire colored hair wasn't a mortal.
"What a fortunate family reunion. To think that my own grandson is already married with children of his own. You unfilial son didn't even tell me!" The fire headed man said under his breath and threw the other man on the ground roughly.
"Hello father," Traigar said with mild amazement.
The audience was in complete shock. Cirwyn included. She had never met Traigar's family before, nor did she ever expect to meet them. Traigar had told her of his circumstances after they wed. His father had ordered him to kill everyone in a village on the outskirts of Zelix's borders. A few men of the village were attempting to start a rebellion and Laigrat didn't have the patience to sort out who exactly was responsible. He wanted everyone killed. Traigar refused to have the innocent's blood on his hands and threatened to leave if his father didn't change his orders. Laigrat called Traigar's bluff and Traigar's honor compelled him to fulfill his vow to his father.
The High Human King took in his surroundings slowly, too proud to show his embarassment he looked at his son and the beautiful elf woman sitting next to him. He addressed Cirwyn instead of Traigar at first, "We regret that we haven't sought you out sooner, dear lady." The King said slowly, even in his sleeping robes, he was majestic. "Upon seeing your demeanor and splendid appearence, we now understand how it is that you have managed capture our son's heart. He is a proud and impulsive child but we thank you for your care of him." The King's words were proud but sincere.
Laigrat then looked at Traigar, "Where are our grandchildren? We wish to meet them. Surely they embody the best of the High Humans and the Elves. Your union is providence, child. We are proud." There was a tinge of sadness in the man's eyes as he looked at his estranged son.
When one is a son, one of their greatest wishes is to hear their father admit that he has made his father proud. Traigar was no exception, his eyes slightly watered up as he looked at Cirwyn. She hugged her husband and went to fetch her children.
As Cirwyn left the room, Lystall appeared next to the fire haired man, Syble, holding another man in his sleeping robes. Thankfully she was more gentile with her charge than Syble had been with his.
The man had long white hair, normally elves don't ever look old but the man had been injured in a fight with the demons in the years past. The pointed dips of his ears slightly sagged, and his face had countless wrinkles. If one had adequate perception, they could sense the man's life force slowly leaking out of him. His blue eyes, however, remained vigorous. His body was frail and his hands were slightly shaky but like Laigrat, the man also had a royal bearing. He was Fallagar, the ancient emperor.
He didn't say anything when he collected himself, the only one to notice him appear out of thin air with Lystall was Laigrat. The two men nodded at eachother. The nod drew attention from others in the room and they looked in the direction of Laigrat's nod. A low murmer started among the magisters.
"Royal father," The Emperor bowed to Fallagar. Everyone besides the two gods and Laigrat bowed to Fallagar.
"Rise," Fallgar commanded in his soft spoken way. "Artinalwe," He addressed the Emperor by name, "you have truly proven yourself to be more farsighted than I. I never imagined that my daughter would have married the young prince of Zelix." Fallgar nodded to Traigar.
"Enough of this!" the fire headed man stamped his foot, causing a slight tremor. "Laigrat God's Kin, officially introduce me to my son. Stop being such an unfilial son of mine."
Laigrat was ancient. He was the last remaining first generation High Humans. Technically he was a half generation younger than the very first High Humans. His mother had been the first high human and his father was Syble, the patron god of the High Humans. over the years this had slowly been forgotten. It had been mere myth and legend when the High Humans had been removed from their home planet and placed on Pandora. Since then, the myths and legends of his parentage had ceased to be.
"How's mom?" Laigrat blurted out before answering Syble.
"Long dead. Reincarnated into who knows what, I can't find her anymore. Introduce me to my grandson," Syble persisted.
"Introduce Traigar and I'm sure your granddaughter may be able to find your mother," Lystall smiled cryptically, calling attention to herself for the first time.
"Lystall!" Artinalwe cried and threw himself onto the ground. The rest of the people in the room followed suit.
"Oh get up, you fools." Syble said. "Won't even bow to me but you'll bow to this youngling."
"Cretin! Lystall is our goddess, who are you to-" A magister yelled but was interrupted when Syble's aura forced him into the ground.
"I'm Syble and I command someone introduce me to my grandson!" Syble roared.
"Father.." Laigrat sighed, he had long since grown tired of Syble's temper, "Meet your grandson, Traigar. Traigar, the Lion's son. Meet Syble, Patron god of the High Humans, creator and savior of our race...and also your grandfather." For reasons unknown to the others in the room, Laigrat facepalmed so hard he drew blood.
Altresca followed Cirwyn into the room, stunning in her own right, though she wasn't a masterpiece of two goddesses of love and beauty, she turned quite a few heads. After Altresca, came Freyd. He was wearing suit his mother had prepared for him to wear at his sister's coming of age ceremony. Cirwyn had instructed for him to wear it because he was meeting with some very important guests. There was also one other person who followed into the room, though uninvited, no one complained about her presence.
This girl's father was already in the room. He was one of the emissaries who had arrived moments before Syble had somehow dragged Laigrat from the far continent where Zelix was located to the room where all the VIPs were having breakfast. The girl was Yanrin's sister, Fonral, and she was the very same girl Freyd had been pursuing.
She had decided that out of all her suitors, Freyd was the most charming. It helped that thoughts of him soothed her whenever she was experiencing anything stressful. In truth, when she had seen Freyd following Lynefra in the hall earlier, she hadn't known Lynefra was his sister and felt slightly jealous of the girl, not of her looks, but because Freyd was following her so dilligently. When she called out to Freyd, he offered her his arm and informed her that he was going to be meeting some important people with his sisters. Pleansantly surprised that Lynefra wasn't a love rival, she took Freyd up on his invite.
Upon entering the room, Fonral nodded to her father courteously then leaned heavliy on Freyd's shoulder, sending her father the subtle message that she had chosen Freyd over all the other suitors and even the pompous noble boys her father had picked out for her. When he smiled in approval, she, unaware of Freyd's sudden jump in status, was thoroughly confused but at her father wasn't going to try and stop Freyd from being with her.
Lynefra strutted in just behind Fonral. She was wearing a gown that was fashioned by Lystall and modified by Kuzunoha, Loki, Yanrin, and Altresca (Author's Note: Everyone using Lynefra as a doll now, wtf). The gown was silver, it had low cut V, exposing half of Lynefra's chest down to her naval. The gown itself flowed down to her feet, covering them completely but had a large slit in the side, completely exposing her left hip. The slit hadn't been in the original design but Lynefra couldn't actually walk due to how formfitting the dress was so the slit was added.
Lynefra's hair flowed freely down her back to her buttox, the silver color of her hair matched her dress and the lavender highlights in her hair complimented her appearence perfectly. Though her charm was deliberately controlled to have a minimal effect, most of the men in the room hid themselves behind their tables and Lynefra's eyes sparkled as she scolded herself internally for her behavior. She couldn't seem to get a grip on her impulse to play with the hearts of men.
Was there another ceremony being held? Her melodious voice transmitted directly to the minds of the occupants of the dining room.