As Therese, Luna and I walked through the busy market streets towards the small house Paul had bought, I couldn't help but feel more and more anxious the closer we got.
In my previous life, I never accepted Paul and Zenith as my real parents until it was too late. I was sent from home at only seven years old and by the time I saw my Mother again, she was unable to speak or effectively communicate.
I want this time to be different. No, this time NEEDS to be different. I don't want Mother to see me as some freak or stranger who took over her son's body. Whatever happens, I need to make sure that she knows that I'm her son and I love her.
Once our house came within view, I started to feel nauseous.
"What's the matter, Rudy? Is everything alright?"
Evidently Therese could tell how nervous I was.
"Yeah... Everything's fine. We're here. This is our house."
"Ah. Cozy little place isn't it? I can see why you didn't want us staying with you if you've already got nine people living here."
"Yeah. It's pretty cramped. Hopefully Balda can finish the renovations on the Manor soon."
At this point we've reached the front door. I took a deep breath and knocked.
"Coming!", A faint reply could be heard from behind the closed door.
Shortly afterward, the door opened.
"...T-Therese? Is that you?"
Therese ran up and hugged Zenith without warning.
"Zenith! I've missed you so much! It's been too long!"
Still in a state of surprise, Zenith just stood there with her arms to the side for a couple seconds before she smiled and wrapped them around Therese and returned the embrace.
"What an incredible surprise! How did you even know to look for me all the way out here in Sharia?"
"I didn't. It's Rudy who found us", Therese said as she motioned behind herself to where Luna and I stood.
"Us? Who is this precious little one?", Zenith asked as she walked beside Therese and knelt down towards Luna.
"This is Luna. She's... uh. She's my daughter."
"Your daughter!?", Zenith and I both exclaimed in unison. Luna also looked up towards Therese with a mixture of surprise and happiness written on her face.
"She looks like she's about Rudy's age!", Zenith said, still with a bit of surprise.
She leaned in close to Therese to whisper to her.
"So... Who's the father?"
"Well... she's more of my *adopted* daughter, but I love her just the same."
Zenith nodded in understanding and then turned back to Luna who at this point had grabbed ahold of Therese's waist and had her face buried into her shirt.
"What's wrong little one?", Zenith asked as she knelt down to get to eye level with Luna.
*Sniff* "Nothing's wrong", Luna answered as she wiped away a tear.
"I know it can be scary to meet new people", Zenith said with motherly tenderness, "but we're family. We'll always be there for each other. I'm your Auntie Zenith. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." Luna managed to squeeze that once sentence out before she buried her face back in Therese's shirt.
"Well come on in, everyone! It's cold outside. Come in, Come in!"
Zenith welcomed everyone into the living room of our small house. The only other rooms were the kitchen, bathroom, and two small bedrooms.
"Where is everybody?", I asked.
"Your father is making a quick trip to the Adventurer's Guild, Laws and Hope went to go pick Sylphiette up from School, and Lilia took Norn and Aisha to the market to pick out some groceries for this week."
"Ah, so it's just us home right now."
"Yep. I just got back from the chapel not too long ago."
Zenith pulled out a couple chairs from the dining table and called us over to sit with her.
"So, what brings you all the way to Sharia?" Zenith asked as we were sitting down. "You get in a fight with Mother?", she asked Therese with a mischievous grin on her face.
"No, it wasn't that. I mean, yeah I fight with Mother all the time, but that wasn't why I left."
"You're not in any trouble are you?"
"Well... now that you mention it. Yeah, we've had a rough couple of weeks."
Zenith was getting worried now, you could see it easily on her face.
"Is everything alright? Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Everything's fine now. At least I hope so."
"What happened?"
"You see..."
Therese told Zenith the whole story. At least everything that she knew. She told Zenith that Luna was actually the Blessed Child and how she was helping the Cardinal's faction, the demon exclusionists, gain power and momentum over the Pope's faction.
She told her how she was assigned captain of the Blessed Child's personal guard and how recently there have been multiple assassination attempts on Luna's life. The most recent attempt would have likely succeeded if it hadn't been for a passing warrior who just happened upon them by chance. She could tell how skilled the assassins were. If it wasn't for the warrior, who introduced herself as Ruijerd Superdia, they would have all lost their lives that day.
"Then, just a couple days ago, Rudy ambushed us on our way to visit the Duke of Couver."
"Rudy ambushed you? That can't be right."
"Uh... yeah. I didn't ambush you", I argued in my defense.
"I mean, you kind of did."
"You guys attacked me!"
"That was only because of Luna's misunderstanding."
"Don't blame Luna for this!"
"Okay! Okay! No fighting at the dinner table", Zenith scolded. "You're supposed to be the adult here!", she said as she glared at Therese.
"Anyway", Zenith continued. "That's not even possible. Couver is half way across the world on an entirely different continent. There's no way you guys could have made it all the way here in a couple days."
Therese looked over towards me expecting me to explain it. Makes sense. I did ask her not to tell anyone about the teleportation scrolls after all.
"That's because I teleported us here."
"Teleported!? You mean like the traps in labyrinths!?"
"Yes. Only in a controlled setting. One in which you teleport intentionally to a desired destination."
"What? You can even teleport now? That's... incredible. I always knew you were a genius magician, but this takes it to a whole new level!"
Zenith's cheeks flushed red as she smiled with unbridled pride. She's taking this better than I expected.
"You might even become the best mage in the whole world!"
"Well. About that." I took a deep breath. "There's something I think you should know."
Zenith picked up on my serious tone and her gleeful expression morphed into an equally serious one as she put all her focus on me.
"Okay Rudy. What did you do now?"