Chapter 40 - Eirlys Llywelyn P3
*****
An hour later, Aira and I were lying in bed together. She was holding on to my left arm, her eyes on mine as mine were on hers.
"I love you, girlfriend," she whispered into my ear.
I smiled and kissed her once more. "I love you, girlfriend."
"That was amazing. I feel sorry for other gay girls that don't have a Transcendent girlfriend. They can't experience that."
I held back a laugh, but it still came out a snicker.
"What?"
"Oh nothing. I'm just reveling in your cuteness right now."
"Uh huh. You were real cute yourself about five minutes ago."
"Are all elves this fun behind private doors?"
"Ha! You wanted to say 'dirty', didn't you?"
"Either way."
"I wouldn't know. I only know what one other elf is like behind private doors."
"Rhia, I assume."
"Well, of course! She's the only girl I've ever loved until now." She smirked and ran her fingers over my face. "What do you think of her?"
I smiled, thinking about the elf princess. "She's kind and gentle. Easy to be around."
Just like Adele, and she can be fiery when she wants to be.
"I very much enjoy her company. And yours."
The pretty elf next to me smiled. "Hey, Eli?"
"Hmm?"
She giggled. "Thank you for trusting me with your past."
"Yeah."
"And..."
"What's up?"
"May I ask something about your... power?" She rose and sat up.
"Sure. Whatever you want to ask."
I could tell she was hesitant. The gentleness in her eyes were mixed with a slight frown.
"You are The Creator. Meaning, this world?"
"Yes. Something around half a trillion years ago by this world's time measurement."
Her eyes dilated for a moment, but returned to normal quickly. "Yeesh, that's a big number." Then she smirked. "I wonder if it's really okay for a young eighteen-year-old elf girl to be dating such an old granny."
"Pfft." I sat up laughing. "Well that's a first. I've never heard that before."
"Well, it's true, no?"
"Not quite. I have a hard cutoff on minimum age, no matter what the age of consent is, and that's eighteen. But I myself, and most other Transcendents, stop aging at about twenty-two."
"Okay, so let me see if I get this right," she said, her hand on her chin. I smiled at how lovely she looked while thinking on it.
She has such an inquisitive mind. Brilliant with a strong drive for knowledge. Just like Adara.
"The entire purpose of comparing ages for romantic relationships is to make sure one party isn't too young. Maturity of both the body and mind is important. We all know what maturity of the body brings. The ability to do things children physically cannot do. And maturity of the mind brings the ability to do things children mentally cannot do, such as consent."
She looked at me for what I guessed is my confirmation, so I nodded. Then she continued, "Age of consent in Eden is eighteen. So even if it's lower elsewhere, you won't adhere to that. You'll wait until age eighteen at minimum. And if the age of consent is higher, you'll go by that. Lower is bad, higher is fine."
"Correct on all accounts so far."
"For people that are eternally youthful, like Transcendents, and to a lesser degree, elves, your mindset is that as soon as the body stops aging that is your age indefinitely. And you believe that because the primary reason age is included is maturity, not how long the person has existed."
"Still correct."
"Since your Transcendent self did not age past twenty-two or so, you have not experienced the mental shifts of growing into what is considered old by mortals."
"Correct."
"So in your eyes, you are at most a twenty-two-year-old dating an eighteen-year-old."
I nodded.
She smirked again and pumped her fist. "God I love when I deduce things right."
On instinct, I reached out and patted her head, leaving her face as red as a tomato.
"Hey!"
"You were so cute, I couldn't help it."
"Hmph."
I giggled and patted her head again. "What do you think about that?"
"Huh?"
"About your deduction. What do you think about my view on the topic."
She shrugged. "Seems fine to me. The logic is perfectly sound. Anyone who would say otherwise is looking at it from purely a mortal perspective that simply does not apply to you. You don't grow old, physically or mentally. It would be wrong to deny you love just because somebody you like is born a long time later."
She leaned in and stole my lips for a few seconds.
"I certainly won't deny you any love."
I smiled. "Thank you, love."
"Oh." Her mouth fell open, and her eyes widened for a moment. "That..."
"Hmm? Do you not like it? If you prefer another petname, or none at all, I only ask which one."
She shook her head, "No, it's not that," and held a hand to her temple. "It just... felt familiar."
"Familiar?"
"Mhm. As if I'd been called that before. But I haven't."
There's a flag. That's what I always called Maya, Adele, and Adara back home.
I noticed Lena doing the same thing a couple of times before she recovered her memories. Truly what are the chances that this girl is my wife?
I shook the thought from my head. It doesn't matter. A few years or even a few centuries of living without their memories is perfectly fine. I won't force anything on any of them, if any of them are indeed here. And until they ask, I won't even look deeply to confirm it.
"Well, no matter. I like it." She smiled.
"Love."
Then she giggled.
"Do you want to go do more things? I do believe our date is not over."
"I'd love to."
I snapped my finger and put our academy outfits on us. "Want to go like this, in casual wear, our dresses, or... maybe something a little skimpier?"
"Skimpier?"
"Swimsuits."
"Oh? But, where would we... never mind. We can go literally anywhere. To a beach, eh? It's daylight on the middle continents, so that sounds alright."
I shook my head. "I was thinking a night beach. There's one on the shore in Wavecrest. I went there with some other noble girls last year, and it was a lot of fun."
"Are they your friends?"
"Yeah. Well, one of them. I didn't really get on with the Wavecrest girls, but our mutual friend Marie Vermillion took me there on vacation."
"Oh, I've met Charlotte. You didn't get along with her?"
I shook my head. "No. She was a little mean, so I didn't try to become friends. Marie scolded her, but I didn't want to bother and remained acquaintances. But don't get me wrong, I don't think she's a bad girl. I think she just needed a bit more time to grow out of that teenage noble girl mischief."
Aira chuckled. "I see. A lot of elves are like that."
"Yeah. Anyway, what do you-"
"Princess, please return to the villa. Lady Lena has collapsed," came Serah's voice telepathically.
"Collapsed?"
"Eli, what's wrong? You look... scared."
"Yes. She lost consciousness while speaking with Lady Maya."
"I'll be there in a moment."
"Eli?"
"Sorry. Serah contacted me telepathically. Lena collapsed."
"What?"
"She didn't say why or how, only that she did. I'm going."
Aira nodded her head. "Me, too."
*****
She was lying in her bed unconscious with Maya sitting on the edge holding her hand and channeling pink mana around her.
"She really said that?" I asked.
Maya nodded her head. "I don't understand this pink mana, or if it's why she could do it. But I do know that this oath that restricts her is more than just a choice. It's forced on her."
I snapped my fingers and the entire room was coated in rainbow mana. "I'm going to take a look myself."
"What's the rainbow mana for?" Aira asked.
"It's to protect the world from my Transcendent power. Notice how both of you are protected by it, too?"
She held up her arms and examined the rainbow mana around them. "I see."
"I have to do some spacetime manipulation, so bear with the strange sights you're about to see."
"What do you mean?"
I gave both of them a smile then the room around us faded away into a purple void, with only the floor remaining. To give them a physical representation of the higher dimension I was looking at, I swiped my hand across the space in front of me, and an image of the courtyard appeared a short distance from the space we were standing in. As I swiped my hand across, an additional image appeared in front of my hand one after another in a line.
"What is this...?" Maya said. "Are you... showing us the courtyard with several points in time? Like a movie reel?"
"Wow... that's cool," Aira said, instinctively reaching for the illusory construct.
"More or less," I said. I made a gripping motion with my hand and pulled the line to the right so that the row of time points shifted backward in time. I moved it until the point where Maya and Lena were speaking in the courtyard, then let it play out.
"If I wasn't seeing this with my own eyes, I don't think I could imagine it happening," Aira said. "I'd believe you if you told me, but picturing it is another thing."
"I know your powers are incredible, but seeing them in action..." Maya said, trailing off at the end.
My mortal girlfriends were in awe of the magic I was performing. To be fair, it was something most mortals would never know. Viewing the past is possible for mortal mages with enough practice, but it was exceedingly rare to find a mortal with such a powerful affinity with time manipulation.
Viewing it was one thing, freely manipulating it through a higher dimension is something they could never do.
"With your pink mana, the pain from the oath was suppressed, so she acted on her feelings. Incredible. Your power is rare, Maya." I couldn't help but smile at the scene.
She said she loves us.
I dismissed the illusory timeline and snapped my finger, this time moving us into Lena's soul world. Without a moment's hesitation, I opened the door to her core space and revealed it.
"This..."
I wasn't prepared for what I saw. Around her core were bands of my silver mana and my queen's pink mana. But also black chains glowing with black and white mana.
How in the world is base origin mana in here? Those chains...
I walked up to the core and grabbed one of the chains.
The pain I felt from that chain was indescribable.
I released it on instinct and jumped away.
"What happened?" Aira asked.
I clenched my fists and glared at the chains around Luma's core. "This isn't something that can be done haphazardly. One wrong move and she'll die."
"Die?" Maya asked. "Do you mean?"
"I mean as a Transcendent. If I force this without knowing what I'm doing, I very well could kill her. And then that's the end. There's no coming back from death. When a Transcendent dies, their soul is absorbed by the World Tree and made anew. Without exception. The girl I know as Luma Valentine would be lost forever."
I looked down at my hand. There was a glowing black mark from touching the chain, and my hand shook. "There's a good chance I'd kill myself as well." I held my other hand over my injured hand and cleansed it of the foreign origin mana. I shook my head and snapped my finger, returning us to the bedroom. "I can't do anything about those chains right now."
With a deep sigh, I sat down in one of the chairs in the room, my sight firmly fixed on the sleeping catgirl.
"Luma..."
*****
When I woke up the next morning, Luma was sitting up in bed looking at me after shaking me awake.
"Hi, Eli."
I smiled as I rose up. "Hi."
"How was your date last night?"
I giggled and wiggled my way toward her. I quickly kissed her cheek before lying my head on her shoulder. "Is that what you want to hear from me right now?"
I felt her shake her head. "I hope you had a good time, but no that's not what I really want to hear. You know why I fell unconscious, don't you?"
"Mhm. I looked at when it happened."
"Then you know what I said."
"I do."
"I'm sorry, Eli."
"Uh uh, don't say that. I've known all along how you feel. This incident has told me a lot. Your loyalty is unquestionable. It's so strong that it's manifested as a binding on your soul. It's to the point that it causes you physical pain, and you can even lose consciousness if you try to go against the oath."
"Somehow, Maya's pink mana alleviated the pain. For a moment, I felt like..."
She stopped short. I rose up and saw a pained look on her face. "It's okay. Don't push it. Just knowing that those words came out of your mouth is enough for me."
"Eli... are you angry with me?"
"Yes. Angry, sad, happy, love, all of it wrapped up together. I'll figure out how to free you from that binding. But we have to be careful with it. Luma, don't force yourself to do anything, even with knowing Maya's pink mana can alleviate the pain. It seems it will only numb the pain, rather than stop it. So even if she's using it, you're still hurting yourself."
"I... Eli, this is so hard."
"I touched the chains. The pain was... not something I want you to suffer through. And I'm not even sure I can remove it safely. I'm worried one or both of us will die if I even try. Soul bindings are nothing to joke about. Give me some time to think about it."
"I'm sorry you have to worry about me like this."
I shook my head. "That's what love drives people to do. Don't be sorry. I love you, Luma. Of course, I'll worry about you. I worry about all of you. For now, just stay with me. I want you around. I'm sorry for avoiding you."
"Eli..."
I got up, leaned over her, and kissed her forehead. I earned a blush from her, but also a wince. "I'm sorry. I can't even do that without-"
She shook her head. "It's okay. I'm a royal guard knight. I can handle a little bit of pain."
I held my hand out. "Even so. I'd rather make it easier for you. Come on. Time to get ready for class."
She smiled and took my hand. "Yeah."
*****
*****
"I'm glad that's behind us now," Luma said with a smile.
I nodded. "Yeah." I checked the time and saw that it's getting late. We'd been there for hours.
"How did you know I had to break the oath binding myself?"
"My sealed memories. That was a soul binding, too. I had to be the one to remove the binding. There was no pain when I did. I knew from that. Nobody could remove the binding for you, but I didn't want to risk telling you that in fear that it would backfire. So, Fia and I discussed what to do. I admit, pushing you to break the oath today was impromptu, but we were going to do it soon anyway. And now you're free."
She smiled and me, and that was all I needed.
Today has been the most productive day we've had in ages.
I looked around at the happy faces. Luma and Mavel were no longer held back by anything, and that alone was a huge step forward.
"Let's call it a day," I said. "There's still a ton of Elise's story to watch, so let's pick up tomorrow at around noon, yeah?" I received a round of nods and glanced at Mavel. "What are you planning to do tonight?"
"Work." She shrugged. "Like I said earlier, I'm the only royal in Alexandria right now. The rest of you are here."
I laughed dryly and gave her an apologetic smile.
"Oh come now, sweetie," Mabel said. "Come stay with me tonight." She eyed Aya. "Both of you!"
"Huh?" Alethea looked between the two. Both were looking at her with expectation. "I can't just go stay on Gaia like that. I get that we were able to go visit earlier, but-"
"Actually, you can," Evelyn said without the slightest hint of doubt. "Your soul is tethered there." She eyed Atalante and added, "As a matter of fact, you could go as well."
Her eyes widened, and her sisters and daughter gasped. "Me? But... how?"
"Your soul is tethered there as well."
"But, I thought matching DNA was required," Alethea said.
Evelyn shook her head. "No."
"She's right," I said. "Any of us with our souls tethered there can go there. The DNA thing was mentioned earlier, but that was an 'I don't want to explain it' cope out." I raised an eyebrow at Mavel. She only shrugged. "Anyway, you lot figure out what you want to do. I'm going to go do things, too. Message me if you need me."
I snatched up Luma, Fia, Lily, and Ally, and teleported.
*****
I took us directly to Elea. With everything that happened and all the memories we watched through, there was something I really wanted to do.
Talk to Lana and Lane.
"You want to do this right away?" Luma asked.
I nodded. "Fia?"
"Yeah, same."
"What about you, Luma? If you'd rather wait-"
"No. It's fine. Lana knows a lot about us already. Lux?"
The smaller black-haired catgirl appeared and nodded. "Lana knows about us. Lane doesn't. After you helped her escape Phantom, we had a longer conversation about things. She's knows I have three biological mothers and who they are. She's been hesitant to meet you after that. I think she's embarrassed."
"Oh really?" I smirked. "Leah?" I called out Joey's original petname. Kaede and Lux tended to shorten Azalea to Leah. My blonde-haired daughter appeared and smiled at her black-haired sister. "What do you say we take Rei with us to meet Lana and Lane? Would you go fetch her?"
"Mhm," she replied, then disappeared.
"Kaede?"
"You don't contact me often anymore. What's up?"
"Come meet Lana and Lane with us."
Without another word, a girl with black hair and blue highlights appeared before me. "Oh, I thought you'd never ask. I have some words for my... sister."
I laughed dryly, almost regretted inviting her. "Kaede..."
"Don't you get soft on me!" Kaede eyed Luma and smirked. "Hi."
"Hi... Kaede?"
"Yes, Mom?"
"M-mom?"
"What, did you expect me to just keep calling you 'Luma'? I've been holding this back since I was FIVE YEARS OLD! I'm making up for lost time!"
Luma averted her eyes. She had only just broken the oath today and set free of the brainwashing as well. Despite knowing much of it was out of her control, she still seemed embarrassed. "I just wasn't sure if you'd let me-"
"Let you what? Be a mother? Look, I had to hold myself back with her," she pointed at me, "long enough while her memories were sealed. With your stupid oath gone, I'm not waiting any longer for you. So deal with it. Now where are my mortal siblings? Lana and I have some things to talk about."
"Well... you're not going too..."
"Not going too... hurt her? Of course, I'm going to hurt her. I'm putting her through the ringer! I'm gonna make her twice as strong as she is now, and I'm gonna make it hell!"
"You mean through training... okay..."
For a moment, it looked as though Luma's soul was going to escape her body. Fia and I chuckled together at the interaction. And Lux only made it more amusing.
"I'll help!" she said. "Mama, leave it to me and our sisters!"
As if on cue, Joey appeared with Rei in tow. She was surprised to see Kaede. "Kaede?"
"Oi, Rei-chan! Just in time. We have a sister to break into shape."
"You mean, Lana? Joey told me a really short version of things. So Luma is our mom now, too?"
"Always was," Joey said with a happy grin. "Rei-chan, she's my Mama just like Alethea and Kye."
"We can be sisters now, too, right?" Lux asked as she took hold of Rei's hands. "Rei-chan?"
It almost looked like steam was coming out of Rei's ears. She shook it off and looked at me. "How many moms and siblings do I have now? Luma is mom, Lux is sister? And there's Lana and Lane? What next?" She glanced at Lily and Ally. "You gonna tell me Aunt Lily and Aunt Ally are-?"
I laughed dryly again and glanced at them. Neither wanted to answer.
"What...?" Rei stared at me blankly, then at the twins. "Are you?"
Then Fia chopped Rei's head. "Calm down, twerp. You're getting ahead of yourself. Let us figure things out with them first. You're here to formally meet Lana and Lane."
"That's right!" Kaede said, cracking her knuckles. "Come on, sister, let's go meet our sister."
"I am so confused..." Rei sighed. "At least you didn't bring Ren with us."
"Oh, do you want me to go get Ren-chan?" Joey asked.
Rei's eyes went wide, and she tried to talk her blonde sister down, but the girl disappeared before she could get another word in.
"Well this is getting more and more exciting," Lux said with a happy grin. "Mama, Lana is gonna be so happy to have so many siblings!"
Luma and I exchanged glances and laughed dryly together.
A moment later, Joey reappeared with Ren, who was already confused and hollering. "Hey, what gives?!" She saw me, Fia, and Luma and just sighed. "Okay, what crazy adventurer are we going on?"
"Just like that?" Rei asked with a blank face.
"What else am I supposed to expect with this company."
"Yeah..."
I patted both of their heads. "I'm so glad you two are getting along! Let's go meet the other two now."
Ren took her turn with the blank face and said, "What?"
Lux grinned and teleported us to the house where Lana and Lane were staying near the Slayer Academy. The Inukami sisters lived nearby.
Kaede, unabashed as ever, walked right up to the door and went in without even knocking. She had already scanned the place to make sure Lana was there. Lane was inside, too.
"You!" came Lane's voice as Luma and I joined them in the kitchen. Lana was in the middle of cooking and Lane had a book in his hand sitting at the table. "What are you doing just-"
"Hello, little brother," Kaede said. She waited until meeting them to show her cat features. Her black-furred ears and tail had a blue streak just like her hair.
"You're a cat? And you can hide your... wait," he spotted Luma and Me, and everyone else coming in with us. We quickly filled up the kitchen with how many people were with us. "Mom?"
Lux cheerfully walked around Kaede and sat on Lane's lap.
"Huh? Lux? What's?"
"Hi, brother. Sister Kaede has come to meet you and Sister Lana."
"Sister?"
Kaede was cracking her knuckles as she walked up to Lana. "Hi, sister."
Lana's eyes were wide and sweat dripped down her face. "Uh... Kaede... listen... we can talk about it... Maya and I already-"
Kaede smiled, but nobody was fooled by it. "Don't you mean 'Mom and I'?"
Wow, she's even more forceful than me. I wonder where she gets it.
"Pfft." Next to me, Fia was struggling to keep her laughter at bay.
"Huh? Hey... I'm cooking here..."
Kaede ignored her and forcefully grabbed Lana's tail, gripping it just enough to send a shock through Lana's body and making her collapse to her knees.
"Not fair..."
Kaede leaned in and whispered into Lana's ears, "Mom broke her oath, so I don't have to call her by her name anymore. You know about the oath, don't you?"
"What? You're serious? You're calling my mom... mom? I'm... what?"
"Lux, Leah, and I are full-blooded sisters. Get it? Luma is my mother, same as you, sister."
Lana looked to Luma for answers, who only nodded.
"Truly? Then-"
"That's right. And what kind of big sister would I be if I didn't whip you and Lane into shape." Lane was shocked into silence.
I'm not sure if he wants to believe it of if he wants it to be a lie.
"Kaede... I'm in the middle of cooking. Please, let me finish at least!"
"Of course, you can finish cooking. Then we'll eat. Then we'll rest for fifteen minutes. And then training starts." Kaede gripped Lana's tail again.
"O-okay..." Lana looked like she was going to cry from the pain. "My t-tail... Kaede, please..."
Kaede sighed, held her hand out, and helped Lana up. Then she hugged her. "You may have worked things out with Mama Maya already, but you and me haven't. And you have to talk to her again, too. Do you know how hard it was for us that day we fought? We both already knew about you. She was already thinking of you and Lane as her own, and I was excited to have more siblings. But you hurt her."
Lana looked at me and asked, "Then... you knew as well?"
I nodded.
"Then... what about you? Did you think of Lane and I that way already, too?"
"I did, yes."
"Then... you wanted me to pray not only because I'm Luma's daughter, but..."
"Because I thought of you as mine, too. In my mind, I wanted to help another one of my daughters."
"But... you wanted to kill me, no?"
"Yes."
"Eli!" Luma interrupted.
I grabbed her tail to silence her. "Shush you. Of course, I wouldn't hurt her." I turned back to Lana. "There was a whirl of emotions flying around that day. Ultimately, here we are now. Luma's oath has been broken, and she can freely love again."
"I have a question," Ren said, raising her hand, but not bothering to wait. "From what I understand, this oath Luma had would not allow her to love. What about Lana and Lane's father?"
"Mom didn't love him," Lana said, matter-of-factly. "It was arranged."
"Yes, yes," Kaede said. "Anyway. Lana, we have to talk about all this But..." she pointed at the pot.
It was nearing the point of boiling over.
"OH." Lana hurriedly returned to her cooking.
Kaede smiled and helped her with the cooking while the rest of us found places to sit, some staying in the kitchen, some going to the living room. Rei and Ren decided to go back to Arslade, saying it was too crowded.
I smiled at Kaede's response. Even before fighting Lana, she was already excited to have new siblings. Prickly as the girl is, she loves them. I patted her head.
"Huh? What?" She asked.
"Fia, Lily, Ally, and I are going to do our own thing. The rest of you enjoy yourselves, okay? I'm proud of you, Kaede."
"Yeah yeah, shaddup, Mom."
Fia and I took turns kissing Luma on her cheek before we left. ""Bye, love, see you later!""
Our catgirl wife smiled and said, "Love you! See you later!"
The last thing I heard before we left was Lane saying, "I am so confused right now..."
*****
Revision: 2025-6-14