Spiri Raia

Year 928

Year 1421 in Manegia

"Huh, her village was the same as I remembered it," Joshua muttered, taking a deep breath out of nervousness.

"Give or take a few new houses but it is indeed," Ronald agreed with him.

In a remote part of Kirash lay a small village. It was nothing special, just a quiet medieval settlement Owen had seen many times before. While its hilly geography made it too much effort for any invader to go out of their way to attack it (while almost isolating it in return), one particular detail made it important.

It was his mother's home village.

"You haven't visited the village for all these years, Joshua?" Ronald then asked as they passed through the wooden fences surrounding the village by its entrance.

"No, didn't dare to face them," Joshua admitted unashamedly. "So I've been putting it off with my rebellion until now."

It was only Owen, his father, and Ronald visiting the village. With the decision at the summit, everyone was preparing to invade the Kirash capital. William was back in the Court going over the plan. Alicia, being able to purify the cursed spirits, was training with Aqua and Rin went with her.

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"Me? Using spirit arts?" Alicia muttered dumbfounded.

"That is right," Aqua smiled with a nod, her hands on her waist. "I did say your mother is adept at it. With Layla here, I am sure you will master it in no time."

"Yeah!" Layla agreed. "I know you can do it!"

"We decided since you will be playing a main role in this, it will be appropriate that you do it with spirit arts as well," Aqua explained. "Your cousin would have done so if she were born in our world."

"I see," Alicia nodded in understanding. "I will do it. I am interested in mother's spirit arts too."

"You won't regret it!" Layla said excitedly at working with her namer's daughter.

"Let's go! Training arc!"

"Uhn! I'll come with you too, big sis!" Rin exclaimed.

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That left Owen with no particular task to do before the invasion. Because of that, his father and Ronald decided now would be the best time to catch up on some things, namely bringing the Illyer household back to their homeworld. The other one was bringing Owen here.

Right, Owen thought as he reached into his pocket and grasped the flower brooch that belonged to his mother.

"The orphanage should be around here," Joshua muttered as he led the way, ignoring the stares from the villagers at the obvious strangers coming into their unknown village.

Speaking of which, Owen heard from Ronald how his father and mother met. It was probably one of the craziest stories of how someone's parents first met; his father stopped his mother from assassinating duke Illyer and then proceeded to liberate her orphanage and village from the bandits blackmailing her into doing it.

That, however, made the state of this village a bit strange. After having been held entirely hostage, one would think they ought to take better measures to prevent that from happening again. Just because it's a small village didn't mean they could train up a few young people to thrust a spear. But as far as Owen could see, there weren't any villagers of the sort. If anything they gave them a wide berth, as if they decided they couldn't do anything if they were to stir up some trouble which was quite the pessimistic thought.

"There's the orphanage," Joshua muttered as the group stopped in their tracks. "It's the same as ever before. The place is taken care of well."

"Indeed it is," Ronald nodded, looking at the place.

It was a cathedral-style building which was probably a coincidence given that the greater spirits weren't actively worshipped in that sense - Aqua herself said she and the other greater spirits found it too pretentious. As Ronald said, it was well-maintained. Save for a few discolorations on the corners, the orphanage can very well house a dozen kids.

CREEK

Out of the building came an elderly man whose age made him impressive to still be alive in a medieval-era world. From the distance, Owen could already tell the look of surprise adorning the old man's face seeing his father and Ronald, digging the bottom of his cane deeper into the ground.

"Director, who are they?" came the voice of a child peeking his head behind the elder, the village being this quiet allowing Owen's sharp ear to catch it.

"...They're guests, child," the orphanage director said gently. "Why don't you go and prepare the table? I'll meet them first."

"Okay!" the child said in a sing-song tone while going back inside.

With the kid out of the way, the orphanage director walked towards the group as they approached him, leaving a trail of cane prints as he went. With every step, however, Owen felt a bit of tension in the air rising for some reason. He glanced at his father and saw a bit of stiffness on his face, the same went for Ronald.

"Ronald? Joshua? Is that you, son?" the director muttered in disbelief, having not seen the two people for decades.

"Yes, it's us, director," Ronald answered stiffly. "It has been a long time since we last met, huh?"

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"Yes, it has been," the director said, gripping his cane tightly. "Where-"

"Hey, guys! It's mister Ronald and mister Joshua! They're back!"

Turning to the source of the voice were four young adults, two male and two female, rushing to their side. Owen noticed both his father and Ronald stifled a bit. Despite bringing him here, they sure were unprepared to actually reconnect with old acquaintances as he could guess these villagers were the orphans he was told about all grown-up.

"It's you kids..." Joshua muttered, expecting to see them but at the same time not.

"You've all grown..." Ronald added, feeling reminiscent.

"Yeah, and you guys got old!" one of the boys quipped happily. "I'm Richter in case you forgot." He then pointed his thumb at the other man. "That's Marco," he said while Marco shrugged and then moved on to the two women. "And they're Sophie and Abigail," he introduced while they gave them a friendly wave. "You didn't actually forget our names, did you?"

"No, we didn't," Joshua muttered.

"Anyway, who's this little guy?" Richter then gestured towards Owen.

Now, Owen would have been miffed once again for his stature being poked but the look on his father's face made him forget all of that. As if swallowing a bug, Joshua looked conflicted knowing it would come to this, and yet was reluctant to. Owen could feel the discomfort his father was experiencing.

"...He's my son," Joshua then answered. "...With Willow."

A pin-drop silence soon followed. The revelation left the villagers speechless and the elderly director probably skipped a bear. Gone was the cheery atmosphere of the meeting replaced with a sense of melancholy, especially since Owen's mother wasn't here with them which could only mean one thing.

"...I believe we have much to talk about inside," the director finally said.

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"I see. So, Willow was saved by you two," the director sighed in relief, cupping the wooden glass in his hands filled with water. "We all thought she died in the fire along with the duke."

They were at the orphanage dining table, being served cups of water by the oldest kid there. While not in the room, Owen can already spy on the other orphans peeking from the door, curious of the visitors.

POKE POKE

"And she has such a cute boy!" Sophie cooed, sitting beside Owen and stabbing his cheek with her index finger, much to his annoyance.

"Hear! Hear!" Abigail added, sitting at the other side and poking Owen's other cheek.

For the last half an hour or so, Owen's father and Ronald told them everything that happened since the first time they met. From their rescue via Transporter Room abuse to the Illyer household's rescue and new life in Kaomagi Earth, they had told them all.

Owen supposed they deserved to know about the Court and other worlds. Besides, it was fine to tell them - Owen personally knew that it took a lot of effort to convince the general populace of a world that other worlds and world-hopping wizards exist.

"..." That said, after finishing the story, Owen's father looked downcast as if feeling guilty. Owen could understand because in the end, his mother was...

"Tell me, Joshua," the director then spoke. "Was she happy?"

Joshua blinked, snapping himself out of his slight depression at the director's sudden question. "...Yes, yes she was," he answered.

"Then I'm glad she had a fulfilling life," the director smiled gently in a consoling tone. "It was raining heavily when I took her in as an infant. Her cry was so weak I thought it was too late when I finally found her left at the doorstep. Even by the blessings of the greater spirits that she survived, I was unsure if she could still live a long life with her body being so weak."

Downing his cup of water, he continued, "But, I shouldn't have worried, she has always been a strong girl." Looking at the four orphans who were listening attentively, he said, "when we had taken the four of you in, she was determined to be the older sister for you all. That led to her employment in the duke's household.

"I had once worked for the Illyer household before becoming the director of this orphanage, so I was able to recommend her," the director admitted. "From the letters I received, she performed well despite her condition and I couldn't be any more proud of her."

SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH

Receiving another cup of water from the orphan boy, the director took another drink and continued, "But then those brigands captured our village and waited until Willow came back to see us. Thank the greater spirits you stopped them before the irreversible happened, I can only imagine how much it weighed upon her."

"...Well, I can say she was determined to save you guys," Joshua confessed. And at another time, that determination would have succeeded in doing what the second prince wanted if it wasn't for him interfering just in time.

"That she was," the director nodded in agreement. "And I can already see it in your son together," he said, looking at Owen.

"Me?" Owen muttered, pointing at himself.

"You have traveled many places to search for your father, didn't you?" the director asked rhetorically. "It's the same tenacity your mother has. Despite not seemingly able to, both of you did not give up on what you do."

And that led to him finding his father in this world. Not only that, if it weren't for Aqua stalling him from coming to Spiri Raia the whole time, Owen could have found him sooner. It really was his determination to find him for half a decade that led him to this point.

And also the volcano, Owen thought bitterly, though Jake did give him the push he needed to see it through.

"Yes, it is sad that Willow has passed, but I am also happy that she had lived a good life," the director continued kindly. "She married the man she loved and had a child. Even though she never got to see you grow up, I'm sure she is very much proud of you, Owen." Turning to Owen's father, he then said, "And that's why, Joshua, that you also shouldn't feel so bad. I may not know for certain what you have been doing for the past few years, but know that you shouldn't do it with a heart full of sorrow but of strength as your wife had."

His father slumped his shoulders and Owen did too. They came here to see his mother's village and break the news of her passing after more than one and a half decades. Owen didn't expect this to be their reaction to it, not of grief and anger but quite literally a therapy session. They needed to hear the heartfelt words.

"...Thank you, director," Joshua said with a faint smile and his son shared the same sentiment.

"You are very welcome," the director smiled.

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"Goodbye!"

"Bye-bye!"

"May the greater spirits' blessings be with you!"

With waves of farewell, the three Court Wizards left the village behind them. They proceeded to go around the small hill to the spot where they transferred in, the same place where Owen's father and Ronald began their orphanage rescue mission.

"Hm, that was a fruitful meeting right, Joshua?" Ronald remarked as he entered the transfer zone.

"Yeah," Joshua nodded and then turned to his son. "Come on, Owen. Let's go back to the Court."

"Right," Owen said, following after the two Court Wizards.

Owen spent the next few hours listening to stories about his mother from the director and the four grown-up orphans. From the mundane things to the silly and wholesome moments, they were eager to tell Owen everything about her mother he never really knew. When it was time to leave, Owen felt more connected to his mother than ever before as he returned to Manegia.

KETINK KETINK KETINK

Loyal maneg flew out of Owen's soul and rushed to his pocket. Pulling out the target item in his pocket, everyone saw Willow's brooch glowing light blue as more and more loyal maneg became one with it. Despite having never taken it out until prior, the brooch floated from his hand and grew bigger and bigger.

"This is...!"

After the brooch stopped growing, its light died down, revealing the result. Plopping back to Owen's hand, was an ice-blue shield fitting snuggly into his arm. The front of the shield bore the same flowery pattern of the brooch it once was. In other words, it's a flower shield - a Cherished Armament.

"Well, hey now," Joshua smiled at his son. "That's a beautiful Armament you got."

"What will you name it?" Ronald then asked.

Marveling at the shield from the front and back, Owen already knew what to name it, what his mother had given him. "Its name is..."