Chapter 35: Ren Akari P3
~35.3~
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To prevent news of Zen's disappearance from spreading and rumors starting, the royal council quickly crafted a story to disseminate. Officially, he was suffering from an undisclosed mental illness and was away to deal with that. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it was far from the full truth.
The one impacted most from the situation was Ren. She was thrown into a portal by her father where she was taken by Phantom and forced to do mission after mission for him once she grew up enough. She was sent back after two hundred and seventy years of that, but to the same day she left. Even she doesn't know what time frames she spent her life in, but she did know that she didn't live from the present day nearly three centuries into the future. She knew that all of her life was spent before the present day, but simply didn't know when.
When she first arrived back, but after the incident, she spent the entire next week with her mother and baby brother. "It's so strange to see Kenji as a baby no older than the day I left. I really did come back to the same day."
Ranna loved the girl no differently than when she left, and the two quickly became close. Due to the circumstances, Ren could not call her mother in public. She didn't like that, but she didn't know what to do about it either. Kye wanted nothing more than to tell her to do what felt natural. "Ranna is your mother, and I would never ask you to hide that. But the circumstances are complicated and the royal council doesn't want to alarm the public."
"What can I do?" The girl clutched her chest. "It feels wrong to call mom anything but mom."
Kye nodded. "Yes. It does. If you ever want to talk about anything, please come to me. I understand very well every aspect of your lived experiences. You now know who I am and how long I've lived. I can help you."
She grimaced. "When it was explained to me, I had a hard time believing it. But Aunt Sanae had the same look in her eyes that I do when I look in the mirror. A look that tells me she's lived through pain her whole life."
"I feel like I can speak for Sanae and Alethea as well." Kye took a sip a tea and looked Ren in the eyes. "Ren. Sweetie, you are my niece. But once upon a time, in a distant past life, you were my child. Whether you are my niece now or my daughter in a past life, I love you, I want the best for you, and I want you to have everything you desire."
The girl's eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
"If you want me to restore your memories of your past life, or lives, I will do that. If you want to live without them, I will help you with that. If you want to live this life with the right to call Ranna 'mom', I will overrule the Atlantis Royal Council and I will give you ability to exercise that right whenever you want." Kye looked down at her teacup, it was empty. "But, before that, I want you to try to adhere to the council's decision, for that decision is in the best interest of the masses."
She grimaced. It was a lot to take in, but she focused on the main topic. "And if I can't?"
"Their decision only applies to public interactions. You would still be allowed to interact with Ranna as mother and daughter in private, even in front of the attendants and other staff. However, if you can't do that… if it's too much of them to ask that of you, I will ensure that it stops right then."
Tears formed in Ren's eyes as Kye spoke.
"You are safe here. Phantom will never influence you again."
She hesitantly asked, "Is that because of your blessing?"
Kye nodded. "Yes. None can touch your mind with my blessing. They must overcome mine to reach yours."
"I see." She smiled. Ren trusted Kye very much and felt safe hearing those words. "What of my life here? What should I do? I… didn't exactly…"
"Do you want a normal life? You could go to the academy as a first year with Rei and the others."
"I can?!" Kye giggled at Ren's response. She could see stars in the girl's eyes.
"Of course. I'll give you whatever you want, sweetie. Whether my niece now or my daughter in a past life, I love you." Kye reached over and patted the girl's head. "I want you to be happy."
"Would I be in your class? I know you're an instructor there."
"Sure. I can put you into my first year class. I teach mana control, primarily. I am very interested in how you wield your power." The blonde's eyes glowed as she gazed at the girl across the table. "I can tell how much mana you can wield. You're quite powerful. You grew out of necessity, a trait that the royals of Atlantis don't have. You are as powerful as my group that spent a hundred years in the past. Although you took two hundred and seventy years to reach that threshold, you did not have me or my peers teaching you. How much did you have to learn on your own?"
"Until I was fourteen, I was trained by Shiro and his underlings. After that, I learned on the job the hard way."
"I'm so proud of you for becoming so strong, and I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that. But no more. You have your family now. You have Ranna, you have me, you have Sanae, and Alethea, and more." Kye smiled. "I'll teach you anything."
Ren smiled. "Okay. Please let me go to school!"
Kye giggled. "Also, I'm both an instructor and a student. I'm in my sixth year. Your mother is in her third year. And after the incident with my redhead daughters, all of my children are in their first…" Kye stopped talking.
"Aunt Kye?" Ren waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello?"
Kye's eyes widened. "Ren sweetie, I just had an idea." The black-haired girl raised an eyebrow, and Kye leaned over and whispered into her ear. "What do you think?"
"Really?! That'll work?!"
"It can! We need to talk to Ranna right away!"
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Revision: 2024-11-6